Zero-day vulnerability in Microsoft Internet Explorer

Use-after-free
CVE-2018-8373

The vulnerability was spotted in the wild by Trend Micro researcher on July 11, 2018. The exploit sample detected by the researchers was using the same obfuscation technique as exploits for CVE-2018-8174, spotted in the wild by Qihoo 360 in April 2018.

Known malware:

HTML_EXPLOIT.YYRV

Vulnerability details

Advisory: SB2018081413 - Remote code execution in Microsoft Internet Explorer

Vulnerable component: Microsoft Internet Explorer

CVE-ID: CVE-2018-8373

CVSSv3 score: CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:L/PR:N/UI:R/S:C/C:H/I:H/A:H/E:H/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 vulnerability exists due to a use-after-free error in VBScript when the scripting engine handles objects in memory in Internet Explorer. A remote unauthenticated attacker can trick the victim into visiting a specially crafted website, trigger memory corruption and execute arbitrary code with elevated privileges.

Successful exploitation of this vulnerability may result in complete compromise of vulnerable system.

Note: The vulnerability has been exploited in the wild.

External links:


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.