CVE-2015-0028 in Internet Explorer
Summary
by MITRE
Microsoft Internet Explorer 9 allows remote attackers to execute arbitrary code or cause a denial of service (memory corruption) via a crafted web site, aka "Internet Explorer Memory Corruption Vulnerability," a different vulnerability than CVE-2015-0048.
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Analysis
by VulDB Data Team • 03/09/2022
Microsoft Internet Explorer 9 suffered from a critical memory corruption vulnerability that enabled remote code execution and denial of service attacks through maliciously crafted web content. This vulnerability specifically affected the browser's handling of memory management during web page rendering processes, creating exploitable conditions that could be leveraged by attackers to inject and execute arbitrary code on victim systems. The flaw existed within the browser's memory allocation and deallocation mechanisms, particularly when processing certain JavaScript objects and DOM elements that triggered improper memory handling behaviors.
The technical exploitation of CVE-2015-0028 relied on crafting specific web pages that would cause Internet Explorer to improperly manage memory structures, leading to buffer overflows, heap corruption, or other memory-related vulnerabilities. Attackers could construct malicious web sites containing specially formatted JavaScript code or HTML elements that would trigger the vulnerable memory handling routines when the browser attempted to render the page. These conditions could result in memory corruption that allowed attackers to execute code with the privileges of the logged-in user, potentially leading to full system compromise.
From an operational perspective, this vulnerability represented a significant risk to organizations relying on Internet Explorer 9, as it could be exploited through drive-by downloads or malicious websites without any user interaction beyond visiting the compromised site. The vulnerability's impact extended beyond simple code execution to include potential denial of service scenarios where the memory corruption could cause the browser to crash or become unresponsive. Security researchers noted that the vulnerability was particularly dangerous because it could be exploited in the wild without requiring user interaction, making it a prime target for zero-day exploits and targeted attacks.
Organizations facing this vulnerability should have implemented immediate mitigations including applying the relevant Microsoft security updates, implementing browser isolation techniques, and deploying network-based protections such as web application firewalls. The vulnerability aligned with CWE-125, which describes out-of-bounds read conditions in memory management, and could be mapped to ATT&CK technique T1203, representing legitimate user execution through web-based attacks. Microsoft recommended that administrators disable Internet Explorer 9 or deploy the security patches immediately, while security teams should have monitored for exploitation attempts and implemented network segmentation to limit potential lateral movement if systems were compromised.