CVE-2011-2615 in Web Browser
Summary
by MITRE
Unspecified vulnerability in Opera before 11.50 allows remote attackers to cause a denial of service (application hang) via unknown content on a web page, as demonstrated by domiteca.com.
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Analysis
by VulDB Data Team • 11/13/2021
The vulnerability identified as CVE-2011-2615 represents a critical security flaw in Opera web browsers prior to version 11.50, specifically categorized under the Common Weakness Enumeration framework as a weakness related to unspecified software vulnerabilities. This vulnerability manifests as a remote denial of service condition that can be exploited by attackers through malicious web content, potentially causing the targeted browser application to become unresponsive or hang indefinitely. The issue was demonstrated through an attack vector involving content hosted on the domiteca.com website, indicating that the flaw could be leveraged through legitimate web browsing activities without requiring any special privileges or user interaction beyond visiting a compromised webpage.
The technical nature of this vulnerability lies in Opera's insufficient input validation and error handling mechanisms when processing certain types of web content. When the browser encounters malformed or specially crafted HTML, JavaScript, or other web elements, the parsing and rendering processes fail to properly handle the unexpected data structures, leading to application instability. This type of vulnerability falls under the ATT&CK framework's technique T1499.004 for Network Denial of Service, where adversaries leverage application-level flaws to disrupt service availability. The flaw specifically affects Opera's rendering engine's ability to gracefully recover from malformed input, creating a condition where the browser process becomes stuck in an infinite loop or fails to properly terminate resource allocation requests.
The operational impact of CVE-2011-2615 extends beyond simple browser disruption, as it can be exploited in various attack scenarios including targeted attacks against specific users or broader campaign-based exploitation. When successful, the vulnerability forces users to manually terminate browser processes, potentially resulting in data loss and productivity interruption. In enterprise environments, this could lead to widespread service disruption if multiple users are accessing compromised websites simultaneously. The vulnerability's remote nature means that attackers can exploit it without requiring physical access to the target system, making it particularly dangerous in environments where users frequently browse untrusted websites. Additionally, the unspecified nature of the vulnerability suggests that it may affect multiple components within Opera's architecture, potentially encompassing various web content types including but not limited to HTML documents, JavaScript code, and embedded multimedia elements.
Organizations and users affected by this vulnerability should immediately implement mitigations including updating to Opera version 11.50 or later, which contains the necessary patches to address the underlying parsing issues. Network administrators should consider implementing web filtering solutions to block access to known malicious domains and employ security scanning tools to identify potentially compromised websites. Browser security configurations should be reviewed to ensure that automatic updates are enabled and that users are educated about the risks of visiting untrusted websites. The vulnerability also highlights the importance of regular security assessments and penetration testing to identify similar flaws in other browser components or web applications. From a compliance perspective, this vulnerability demonstrates the necessity of maintaining current software versions and implementing robust patch management procedures to protect against known security flaws that could be exploited by threat actors.