CVE-2015-2451

Vulnerability

CVE-2015-2451 is a memory corruption vulnerability in Microsoft Internet Explorer 9, 10, and 11. The flaw exists in how Internet Explorer handles objects in memory. An attacker can exploit this by hosting a specially crafted website designed to trigger memory corruption. Affected versions include IE 9 through 11 on Windows client and server platforms [1].

Exploitation

An attacker can remotely exploit this vulnerability by convincing a user to view a malicious webpage using Internet Explorer. No authentication is required, and the attack is initiated through user interaction (browsing to the crafted site). The attacker does not need any special network position beyond hosting a website or compromising a legitimate one [1].

Impact

Successful exploitation grants the attacker the ability to execute arbitrary code in the context of the current user. If the user has administrative privileges, the attacker can gain full control of the system. This can lead to program installation, data manipulation, or denial of service. The vulnerability could also be used for denial of service via memory corruption [1].

Mitigation

Microsoft released security update MS15-079 (cumulative update 3082442) on August 11, 2015, which addresses this vulnerability. Users should apply the update through Windows Update or by downloading the patch. No workarounds are documented [1].