Microsoft Internet Explorer up to 6 Plugin-In Navigation heap-based overflow

CVSS Meta Temp Score
CVSS is a standardized scoring system to determine possibilities of attacks. The Temp Score considers temporal factors like disclosure, exploit and countermeasures. The unique Meta Score calculates the average score of different sources to provide a normalized scoring system.
Current Exploit Price (≈)
Our analysts are monitoring exploit markets and are in contact with vulnerability brokers. The range indicates the observed or calculated exploit price to be seen on exploit markets. A good indicator to understand the monetary effort required for and the popularity of an attack.
CTI Interest Score
Our Cyber Threat Intelligence team is monitoring different web sites, mailing lists, exploit markets and social media networks. The CTI Interest Score identifies the interest of attackers and the security community for this specific vulnerability in real-time. A high score indicates an elevated risk to be targeted for this vulnerability.
8.4$0-$5k0.00

Summaryinfo

A vulnerability classified as problematic has been found in Microsoft Internet Explorer up to 6. This issue affects some unknown processing of the component Plugin-In Navigation. This manipulation causes heap-based overflow. This vulnerability is registered as CVE-2004-0978. Remote exploitation of the attack is possible. No exploit is available. It is recommended to apply a patch to fix this issue.

Detailsinfo

A vulnerability has been found in Microsoft Internet Explorer up to 6 (Web Browser) and classified as critical. Affected by this vulnerability is some unknown processing of the component Plugin-In Navigation. 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. The summary by CVE is:

Heap-based buffer overflow in the Hrtbeat.ocx (Heartbeat) ActiveX control for Internet Explorer 5.01 through 6, when users who visit online gaming sites that are associated with MSN, allows remote attackers to execute arbitrary code via the SetupData parameter.

The weakness was published 10/12/2004 by John Heasman with Microsoft as MS04-038 as confirmed bulletin (Technet). It is possible to read the advisory at microsoft.com. This vulnerability is known as CVE-2004-0978 since 10/20/2004. 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. The technical details are unknown and an exploit is not publicly available.

Applying the patch MS04-038 is able to eliminate this problem. The bugfix is ready for download at windowsupdate.microsoft.com. Furthermore it is possible to detect and prevent this kind of attack with TippingPoint and the filter 3252.

The vulnerability is also documented in the databases at X-Force (17714), SecurityFocus (BID 11367†), OSVDB (10756†), Secunia (SA12806†) and SecurityTracker (ID 1011678†). Similar entries are available at VDB-745, VDB-758, VDB-796 and VDB-894. Be aware that VulDB is the high quality source for vulnerability data.

Productinfo

Type

Vendor

Name

Version

License

Support

Website

CPE 2.3info

CPE 2.2info

CVSSv4info

VulDB Vector: 🔍
VulDB Reliability: 🔍

CVSSv3info

VulDB Meta Base Score: 8.8
VulDB Meta Temp Score: 8.4

VulDB Base Score: 8.8
VulDB Temp Score: 8.4
VulDB Vector: 🔍
VulDB Reliability: 🔍

CVSSv2info

AVACAuCIA
💳💳💳💳💳💳
💳💳💳💳💳💳
💳💳💳💳💳💳
VectorComplexityAuthenticationConfidentialityIntegrityAvailability
UnlockUnlockUnlockUnlockUnlockUnlock
UnlockUnlockUnlockUnlockUnlockUnlock
UnlockUnlockUnlockUnlockUnlockUnlock

VulDB Base Score: 🔍
VulDB Temp Score: 🔍
VulDB Reliability: 🔍

NVD Base Score: 🔍

Exploitinginfo

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

Physical: No
Local: No
Remote: Yes

Availability: 🔍
Status: Not defined

EPSS Score: 🔍
EPSS Percentile: 🔍

Price Prediction: 🔍
Current Price Estimation: 🔍

0-DayUnlockUnlockUnlockUnlock
TodayUnlockUnlockUnlockUnlock

Threat Intelligenceinfo

Interest: 🔍
Active Actors: 🔍
Active APT Groups: 🔍

Countermeasuresinfo

Recommended: Patch
Status: 🔍

0-Day Time: 🔍

Patch: MS04-038
TippingPoint: 🔍
SourceFire IPS: 🔍

Timelineinfo

10/12/2004 🔍
10/12/2004 +0 days 🔍
10/12/2004 +0 days 🔍
10/14/2004 +2 days 🔍
10/15/2004 +1 days 🔍
10/20/2004 +4 days 🔍
02/09/2005 +112 days 🔍
03/24/2011 +2234 days 🔍
01/03/2025 +5034 days 🔍

Sourcesinfo

Vendor: microsoft.com

Advisory: MS04-038
Researcher: John Heasman
Organization: Microsoft
Status: Confirmed

CVE: CVE-2004-0978 (🔍)
GCVE (CVE): GCVE-0-2004-0978
GCVE (VulDB): GCVE-100-895
CERT: 🔍
X-Force: 17714 - Heartbeat.ocx ActiveX SetupData buffer overflow, High Risk
SecurityFocus: 11367 - Microsoft Internet Explorer Heartbeat ActiveX Control Unspecified Vulnerability
Secunia: 12806 - Internet Explorer Multiple Vulnerabilities, Extremely Critical
OSVDB: 10756 - Microsoft MSN heartbeat.ocx Component Overflow
SecurityTracker: 1011678 - Microsoft IE MSN 'heartbeat.ocx' Component Has Unspecified Flaw
SecuriTeam: securiteam.com
Vulnerability Center: 30665 - Internet Explorer 5.01-6 Remote Arbitrary Code Execution Vulnerability via the SetupData Parameter, Medium

See also: 🔍

Entryinfo

Created: 10/14/2004 11:45
Updated: 01/03/2025 14:55
Changes: 10/14/2004 11:45 (62), 04/07/2017 12:00 (28), 03/10/2021 06:55 (3), 01/03/2025 14:55 (15)
Complete: 🔍
Cache ID: 216::103

Be aware that VulDB is the high quality source for vulnerability data.

Discussion

No comments yet. Languages: en.

Please log in to comment.

◂ PreviousOverviewNext ▸

Want to know what is going to be exploited?

We predict KEV entries!