Secunia Logo  


Secunia PSI WorldMap
 
Outlook Express MHTML URL Handler Vulnerability
Secunia Advisory: SA8648
Release Date: 2003-04-23
Popularity: 8,431 views

Critical:
Moderately critical
Impact: Exposure of system information
Exposure of sensitive information
System access
Where: From remote
Solution Status: Vendor Patch

Software:Microsoft Outlook Express 5.5
Microsoft Outlook Express 6

Secunia CVSS-2 Score: Available in Secunia business solutions

Subscribe: Instant alerts on relevant vulnerabilities


Advisory Content (Page 1 of 3)[ 1 ] [ 2 ] [ 3 ]

Description:
Microsoft has issued a patch for an older vulnerability in Outlook Express, which can be exploited by malicious people to perform certain actions on a user's system.

The vulnerability is caused by an error in the MHTML URL handler, which makes it possible to render any file as if it was a HTML file. Script code can therefore be included in a file and executed in the "Local Computer" zone on a user's system.

A malicious person can exploit this by constructing an URL referencing a speciel text file and include this in a MHTML document. This can either be sent directly to a user or hosted on a website. A web-based attack scenario is possible because Internet Explorer uses the vulnerable MHTML functionality implemented in Outlook Express.

Successful exploitation can automatically launch executables already present on the user's system or read arbitrary files. However, this is not possible in an email-borne attack scenario if the user is viewing the email in Outlook Express 6.0 or Outlook 2002 in their default configurations, or Outlook 98 or Outlook 2000 in conjunction with the Outlook Email Security Update.

Change Page:
[ 1 ] [ 2 ] [ 3 ]



Track this Secunia Advisory
Customers of the Secunia Vulnerability Intelligence solutions will automatically receive updates when new information regarding this advisory is released.

Read more about our Vulnerability Intelligence solutions and what they can do for you and your company.

About this Secunia Advisory
Please note: The information that this Secunia Advisory is based on comes from a third party unless stated otherwise.

Secunia collects, validates, and verifies all vulnerability reports issued by security research groups, vendors, and others.
  
Latest Advisories

Send Feedback to Secunia
If you have new information regarding this Secunia advisory or a product in our database, please send it to us using either our web form or email us at vuln@secunia.com.

Ideas, suggestions, and other feedback are most welcome.

Most Popular - 3 Hours

1. Internet Explorer Charset Inheritance Cross-Site Scripting Vulnerability // 63 views
2. Sun Java JDK / JRE Multiple Vulnerabilities // 45 views
3. Adobe Flash Player Multiple Vulnerabilities // 45 views
4. Microsoft Windows Win32k Kernel-Mode Driver Multiple Vulnerabilities // 28 views
5. Adobe Reader/Acrobat Multiple Vulnerabilities // 20 views
6. AJ HYIP Multiple SQL Injection Vulnerabilities // 16 views
7. AutoIndex PHP Script index.php URL Cross-Site Scripting // 15 views
8. Apple Safari Multiple Vulnerabilities // 13 views
9. Google Chrome Two Vulnerabilities // 13 views
10. Mozilla Firefox Multiple Vulnerabilities // 11 views