Zero-day vulnerability in Microsoft DirectX

Use-after-free error
CVE-2009-0084

According to Symantec the first exploitation of the vulnerability was discovered on 2008-10-23.

Vulnerability details

Advisory: SB2009041402 - Remote code execution in Microsoft Windows

Vulnerable component: Microsoft DirectX

CVE-ID: CVE-2009-0084

CVSSv3 score: CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:L/PR:N/UI:R/S:C/C:H/I:H/A:H/E:F/RL:O/RC:C

CWE-ID: CWE-416 - Use After Free

Description:

The vulnerability allows a remote attacker to execute arbitrary code on the target system.

The weakness exists due to use-after-free error when processing a malformed JPEG file. A remote attacker can create a specially crafted JPEG file, trick the victim into opening it, trigger memory corruption and execute arbitrary code on the target system with privileges of the current user.

Successful exploitation of the vulnerability results in arbitrary code execution on the vulnerable system.

Note: this vulnerability is being actively exploited.

External links:

https://technet.microsoft.com/en-us/library/security/ms09-011.aspx
http://does-not-exist.org/mail-archives/bugtraq/msg29358.html
https://fe-ddis.dk/cfcs/CFCSDocuments/Zeroday.pdf
https://users.ece.cmu.edu/~tdumitra/public_documents/bilge12_zero_day.pdf

About zero-day vulnerabilities

Zero-day vulnerability is an undisclosed vulnerability in software that hackers can exploit to compromise computer programs, gain unauthorized access to sensitive data, penetrate networks, etc. We consider vulnerability a zero-day when there is no solution provided from software vendor and the vulnerability is being actively exploited by malicious actors.

Zero-day candidate is a potential zero-day vulnerability in software which might have been used in targeted attacks, however there is no evidence to support this suggestion.