Microsoft Internet Explorer up to 6 Location URL privileges management

CVSS Meta Temp Score
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CTI Interest Score
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6.8$0-$5k0.00

Summaryinfo

A vulnerability marked as very critical has been reported in Microsoft Internet Explorer up to 6. This issue affects some unknown processing of the component Location URL Handler. This manipulation causes privileges management. This vulnerability is tracked as CVE-2004-0549. The attack is possible to be carried out remotely. Moreover, an exploit is present. The affected component should be disabled.

Detailsinfo

A vulnerability has been found in Microsoft Internet Explorer up to 6 (Web Browser) and classified as very critical. Affected by this vulnerability is an unknown code of the component Location URL Handler. The manipulation with an unknown input leads to a privileges management vulnerability. The CWE definition for the vulnerability is CWE-269. The product does not properly assign, modify, track, or check privileges for an actor, creating an unintended sphere of control for that actor. As an impact it is known to affect confidentiality, integrity, and availability. The summary by CVE is:

The WebBrowser ActiveX control, or the Internet Explorer HTML rendering engine (MSHTML), as used in Internet Explorer 6, allows remote attackers to execute arbitrary code in the Local Security context by using the showModalDialog method and modifying the location to execute code such as Javascript, as demonstrated using (1) delayed HTTP redirect operations, and an HTTP response with a Location: header containing a "URL:" prepended to a "ms-its" protocol URI, or (2) modifying the location attribute of the window, as exploited by the Download.ject (aka Scob aka Toofer) using the ADODB.Stream object.

The weakness was disclosed 06/06/2004 by Rafel Ivgi as MS04-025 (Website). The advisory is shared at lists.netsys.com. This vulnerability is known as CVE-2004-0549 since 06/11/2004. The attack can be launched remotely. The exploitation doesn't need any form of authentication. It demands that the victim is doing some kind of user interaction. Technical details are unknown but a public exploit is available. The price for an exploit might be around USD $0-$5k at the moment (estimation calculated on 09/14/2025). It is expected to see the exploit prices for this product decreasing in the near future.MITRE ATT&CK project uses the attack technique T1068 for this issue.

It is possible to download the exploit at 62.131.86.111. It is declared as proof-of-concept. We expect the 0-day to have been worth approximately $25k-$100k. The commercial vulnerability scanner Qualys is able to test this issue with plugin 100008 (Microsoft Internet Explorer Multiple Vulnerabilities (MS04-025)).

Applying a patch is able to eliminate this problem. The bugfix is ready for download at windowsupdate.microsoft.com. A possible mitigation has been published 2 months after the disclosure of the vulnerability. Attack attempts may be identified with Snort ID 2577. Furthermore it is possible to detect and prevent this kind of attack with TippingPoint and the filter 2842.

The vulnerability is also documented in the databases at X-Force (16348), Exploit-DB (316), SecurityFocus (BID 10472†), OSVDB (6963†) and Secunia (SA11793†). Additional details are provided at 62.131.86.111. The entries VDB-257 and VDB-516 are pretty similar. Several companies clearly confirm that VulDB is the primary source for best vulnerability data.

Productinfo

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CPE 2.3info

CPE 2.2info

CVSSv4info

VulDB Vector: 🔍
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CVSSv3info

VulDB Meta Base Score: 7.6
VulDB Meta Temp Score: 6.8

VulDB Base Score: 7.6
VulDB Temp Score: 6.8
VulDB Vector: 🔍
VulDB Reliability: 🔍

CVSSv2info

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Exploitinginfo

Class: Privileges management
CWE: CWE-269 / CWE-266
CAPEC: 🔍
ATT&CK: 🔍

Physical: No
Local: No
Remote: Yes

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

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Price Prediction: 🔍
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OpenVAS ID: 10861
OpenVAS Name: IE 5.01 5.5 6.0 Cumulative patch (890923)
OpenVAS File: 🔍
OpenVAS Family: 🔍

Qualys ID: 🔍
Qualys Name: 🔍

Exploit-DB: 🔍

Threat Intelligenceinfo

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Countermeasuresinfo

Recommended: Disable
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Patch: windowsupdate.microsoft.com

Snort ID: 2577
Snort Message: FILE-OTHER local resource redirection attempt
Snort Class: 🔍

Suricata ID: 2102577
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Suricata Message: 🔍

TippingPoint: 🔍

McAfee IPS: 🔍
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SourceFire IPS: 🔍
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PaloAlto IPS: 🔍

Timelineinfo

06/06/2004 🔍
06/06/2004 +0 days 🔍
06/06/2004 +0 days 🔍
06/08/2004 +2 days 🔍
06/08/2004 +0 days 🔍
06/11/2004 +2 days 🔍
06/29/2004 +18 days 🔍
07/30/2004 +31 days 🔍
08/06/2004 +7 days 🔍
09/14/2025 +7709 days 🔍

Sourcesinfo

Vendor: microsoft.com

Advisory: MS04-025
Researcher: Rafel Ivgi
Status: Confirmed

CVE: CVE-2004-0549 (🔍)
GCVE (CVE): GCVE-0-2004-0549
GCVE (VulDB): GCVE-100-697

OVAL: 🔍

CERT: 🔍
X-Force: 16348 - Microsoft Internet Explorer Location: header bypass restrictions, Medium Risk
SecurityFocus: 10472 - Microsoft Internet Explorer URL Local Resource Access Weakness
Secunia: 11793 - Internet Explorer Local Resource Access and Cross-Zone Scripting Vulnerabilities, Extremely Critical
OSVDB: 6963 - Microsoft IE showModalDialog Method Arbitrary Code Execution
SecuriTeam: securiteam.com
Vulnerability Center: 4650 - [MS04-040] Internet Explorer 6.0 - 6.0 SP1 Allows Disclosure of iegetsrt.htm H, Medium

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

Created: 06/08/2004 15:27
Updated: 09/14/2025 04:02
Changes: 06/08/2004 15:27 (65), 04/07/2017 12:00 (43), 03/09/2021 14:33 (3), 01/02/2025 17:22 (21), 09/14/2025 04:02 (2)
Complete: 🔍
Cache ID: 216:E50:103

Several companies clearly confirm that VulDB is the primary source for best vulnerability data.

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