Microsoft Internet Explorer up to 6 Help ActiveX Control hhctrl.ocx heap-based overflow

CVSS Meta Temp Score
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CTI Interest Score
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5.7$0-$5k0.00

Summaryinfo

A vulnerability was found in Microsoft Internet Explorer up to 6 and classified as critical. This affects an unknown part of the file hhctrl.ocx of the component Help ActiveX Control. Executing a manipulation can lead to heap-based overflow. This vulnerability is handled as CVE-2006-3357. The attack can be executed remotely. Additionally, an exploit exists. It is suggested to disable the affected component.

Detailsinfo

A vulnerability was found in Microsoft Internet Explorer up to 6 (Web Browser). It has been declared as critical. This vulnerability affects an unknown code of the file hhctrl.ocx of the component Help ActiveX Control. The manipulation with an unknown input leads to a heap-based overflow vulnerability. The CWE definition for the vulnerability is CWE-122. A heap overflow condition is a buffer overflow, where the buffer that can be overwritten is allocated in the heap portion of memory, generally meaning that the buffer was allocated using a routine such as malloc(). As an impact it is known to affect confidentiality, integrity, and availability. CVE summarizes:

Heap-based buffer overflow in HTML Help ActiveX control (hhctrl.ocx) in Microsoft Internet Explorer 6.0 allows remote attackers to cause a denial of service (application crash) and possibly execute arbitrary code by repeatedly setting the Image field of an Internet.HHCtrl.1 object to certain values, possibly related to improper escaping and long strings.

The weakness was released 07/04/2006 by H. D. Moore with Rapid7 (Website). The advisory is shared for download at browserfun.blogspot.com. This vulnerability was named CVE-2006-3357 since 07/06/2006. The attack can be initiated remotely. No form of authentication is required for a successful exploitation. Successful exploitation requires user interaction by the victim. Technical details and also a public exploit are known.

It is possible to download the exploit at metasploit.com. It is declared as proof-of-concept. As 0-day the estimated underground price was around $25k-$100k. The vulnerability scanner Nessus provides a plugin with the ID 22188 (MS06-046: Vulnerability in HTML Help Could Allow Remote Code Execution (922616)), which helps to determine the existence of the flaw in a target environment. It is assigned to the family Windows : Microsoft Bulletins and running in the context l. The commercial vulnerability scanner Qualys is able to test this issue with plugin 90343 (Microsoft HTML Help Remote Code Execution Vulnerability (MS06-046)).

Applying a patch is able to eliminate this problem. The bugfix is ready for download at windowsupdate.microsoft.com. Attack attempts may be identified with Snort ID 7004. In this case the pattern Internet.HHCtrl.1 is used for detection. Furthermore it is possible to detect and prevent this kind of attack with TippingPoint and the filter 4581.

The vulnerability is also documented in the databases at X-Force (27573), Tenable (22188), SecurityFocus (BID 18769†), OSVDB (26835†) and Secunia (SA20906†). Once again VulDB remains the best source for vulnerability data.

Productinfo

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CPE 2.3info

CPE 2.2info

CVSSv4info

VulDB Vector: 🔍
VulDB Reliability: 🔍

CVSSv3info

VulDB Meta Base Score: 6.3
VulDB Meta Temp Score: 5.7

VulDB Base Score: 6.3
VulDB Temp Score: 5.7
VulDB Vector: 🔍
VulDB Reliability: 🔍

CVSSv2info

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VulDB Base Score: 🔍
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Exploitinginfo

Class: Heap-based overflow
CWE: CWE-122 / CWE-119
CAPEC: 🔍
ATT&CK: 🔍

Physical: No
Local: No
Remote: Yes

Availability: 🔍
Access: Public
Status: Proof-of-Concept
Download: 🔍

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Price Prediction: 🔍
Current Price Estimation: 🔍

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Nessus ID: 22188
Nessus Name: MS06-046: Vulnerability in HTML Help Could Allow Remote Code Execution (922616)
Nessus File: 🔍
Nessus Risk: 🔍
Nessus Family: 🔍
Nessus Context: 🔍

Qualys ID: 🔍
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Threat Intelligenceinfo

Interest: 🔍
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Countermeasuresinfo

Recommended: Disable
Status: 🔍

0-Day Time: 🔍

Patch: windowsupdate.microsoft.com

Snort ID: 7004
Snort Message: WEB-ACTIVEX Internet.HHCtrl.1 ActiveX function call access
Snort Pattern: 🔍
TippingPoint: 🔍

McAfee IPS: 🔍
McAfee IPS Version: 🔍

SourceFire IPS: 🔍
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PaloAlto IPS: 🔍
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Timelineinfo

07/02/2006 🔍
07/02/2006 +0 days 🔍
07/02/2006 +0 days 🔍
07/04/2006 +1 days 🔍
07/04/2006 +0 days 🔍
07/04/2006 +0 days 🔍
07/06/2006 +2 days 🔍
07/06/2006 +0 days 🔍
07/06/2006 +0 days 🔍
07/07/2006 +1 days 🔍
08/08/2006 +32 days 🔍
06/21/2025 +6892 days 🔍

Sourcesinfo

Vendor: microsoft.com

Advisory: browserfun.blogspot.com
Researcher: H. D. Moore
Organization: Rapid7
Status: Confirmed

CVE: CVE-2006-3357 (🔍)
GCVE (CVE): GCVE-0-2006-3357
GCVE (VulDB): GCVE-100-2356

OVAL: 🔍

CERT: 🔍
X-Force: 27573 - Microsoft Internet Explorer HTML Help HHCtrl ActiveX control buffer overflow, High Risk
SecurityFocus: 18769 - Microsoft Windows HTML Help HHCtrl ActiveX Control Memory Corruption Vulnerability
Secunia: 20906 - Windows HTML Help ActiveX Control Memory Corruption, Highly Critical
OSVDB: 26835 - Microsoft IE HTML Help COM Object Image Property Heap Overflow
SecurityTracker: 1016434 - Microsoft HTML Help Heap Overflow in HHCtrl ActiveX Control May Let Remote Users Execute Arbitrary Code
Vulnerability Center: 12169 - [MS06-046] Internet Explorer HTML Help ActiveX Control (hhctrl.ocx) Vulnerability via Image Field, Medium
Vupen: ADV-2006-2635

scip Labs: https://www.scip.ch/en/?labs.20161013

Entryinfo

Created: 07/07/2006 11:14
Updated: 06/21/2025 17:51
Changes: 07/07/2006 11:14 (100), 04/07/2017 12:01 (7), 03/13/2021 09:33 (2), 01/20/2025 23:41 (15), 06/21/2025 17:51 (2)
Complete: 🔍
Cache ID: 216::103

Once again VulDB remains the best source for vulnerability data.

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