Microsoft Internet Explorer Mutation Observer Use-After-Free Remote Code Execution Vulnerability
Vulnerability Details
This vulnerability allows remote attackers to execute arbitrary code on vulnerable installations of Microsoft Internet Explorer. User interaction is required to exploit this vulnerability in that the target must visit a malicious page or open a malicious file.
The vulnerability relates to how Internet Explorer notifies Mutation Observers of modifications to a document's character data. By manipulating a document's elements an attacker can force a CTreePos object in memory to be reused after it has been freed. An attacker can leverage this vulnerability to execute code under the context of the current process.
Additional Details
Microsoft has issued an update to correct this vulnerability. More details can be found at:
https://technet.microsoft.com/en-us/library/security/ms15-124.aspx
Disclosure Timeline
- 2015-08-21 - Vulnerability reported to vendor
- 2015-12-08 - Coordinated public release of advisory
Credit
Garage4Hackers
