CVE-2006-5913 in Internet Explorer
Summary
by MITRE
Microsoft Internet Explorer 7 allows remote attackers to (1) cause a security certificate from a secure web site to appear invalid via a link to res://ieframe.dll/sslnavcancel.htm with the target site in the anchor identifier, which displays the site's URL in the address bar but causes Internet Explorer to report that the certificate is invalid, or (2) trigger a "The webpage no longer exists" report via a link to res://ieframe.dll/http_410.htm, a variant of CVE-2006-5805.
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Analysis
by VulDB Data Team • 04/27/2026
This vulnerability in Microsoft Internet Explorer 7 represents a sophisticated phishing attack vector that exploits the browser's handling of resource references to manipulate user trust in secure web communications. The flaw resides in how Internet Explorer processes links to internal resources within the ieframe.dll component, specifically targeting the SSL certificate validation user interface. Attackers can craft malicious links that point to res://ieframe.dll/sslnavcancel.htm, which creates a deceptive scenario where legitimate websites appear to have invalid certificates while simultaneously displaying the genuine site URL in the address bar. This creates a false sense of security that can mislead users into believing they are visiting a trusted site when in fact they are being shown a manipulated certificate validation dialog. The vulnerability operates at the user interface level rather than the core security protocols, making it particularly dangerous because it exploits the psychological trust users place in visual indicators like address bar URLs and certificate status displays.
The technical implementation of this attack leverages the browser's resource reference system to bypass normal certificate validation procedures. When users click on specially crafted links, Internet Explorer loads the internal resource from ieframe.dll and displays the target website's URL while simultaneously triggering certificate validation errors. This creates a false positive scenario where users see a legitimate domain name in the address bar but receive certificate warnings, potentially leading them to ignore security alerts or make incorrect security decisions. The second variant uses res://ieframe.dll/http_410.htm to generate "webpage no longer exists" errors, which can be used in conjunction with the certificate manipulation to create more convincing phishing scenarios. Both techniques exploit the same underlying principle of manipulating browser UI elements to deceive users about the true nature of their web interactions, representing a classic case of user interface deception in security contexts.
The operational impact of this vulnerability extends beyond simple phishing attacks to potentially enable more sophisticated social engineering campaigns. Users who encounter these deceptive certificate warnings may develop a false sense of security when they see legitimate URLs in the address bar, leading them to trust sites that are actually compromised or malicious. This vulnerability particularly affects users who rely on visual cues for security validation, as the address bar display can override certificate warnings in many cases. The attack can be particularly effective in targeted phishing campaigns where attackers can craft convincing URLs that appear legitimate while simultaneously triggering certificate validation errors that users may dismiss as false positives. This creates a dangerous precedent where users become desensitized to security warnings because they have been deceived into trusting visual indicators that are manipulated by the attacker.
Organizations and users should implement multiple layers of protection to defend against this vulnerability, including regular browser updates and security patches from Microsoft. The recommended mitigation strategy involves disabling the problematic resource references through registry modifications or browser configuration settings, though this approach may impact legitimate browser functionality. Network administrators should consider implementing web filtering solutions that can detect and block known malicious resource references, while security awareness training should emphasize that address bar URL verification alone is insufficient for determining site legitimacy. This vulnerability aligns with attack patterns documented in the mitre ATT&CK framework under the "Phishing" and "User Interface Manipulation" techniques, where attackers exploit user trust in visual security indicators to bypass traditional security controls. The CWE database categorizes this as a weakness related to improper handling of user interface elements in security contexts, specifically CWE-693 which covers protection mechanism failures in user interfaces. Regular security assessments should include testing for similar vulnerabilities in other browser components, as this represents a pattern of UI manipulation that could potentially affect other security-critical interfaces in the browser.