MSI :: State of Security

Insight from the Information Security Experts

Internet Explorer Security Zone Bypass

Posted on August 20, 2008 by Adam Hostetler

It’s possible to bypass the security zones within Internet Explorer. An issue has been identified in the way that security policies are applied when a URI is specified in the UNC form: \\MACHINE_NAME_OR_IP\PATH_TO_RESOURCE’. When a URI like this is accessed remotely, Internet Explorer does not apply the correct Security Zone Permissions. This issue affects Internet Explorer 5,6 and 7 under all versions of Windows.
Microsoft has released a work around for this issue. The work around can be found in Microsoft’s techbulletin for this issue. http://www.microsoft.com/technet/security/bulletin/ms08-048.mspx

Code Execution Exploit for Internet Explorer 7.0/8.0b

Posted on May 16, 2008 by wstoner

Internet Explorer has been found to be vulnerable to a cross-zone scripting when a user prints an HTML page and the browser is using its “Print Table of Links” options. The vulnerability exists because printing takes place in the local zone not the Internet zone. Any links within the page are not validated allowing for malicious code to be injected and run. The solution is simply to print without the “Print Table of Links” option. The original advisory can be read at: http://aviv.raffon.net/2008/05/14/InternetExplorerQuotPrintTableOfLinksquotCrossZoneScriptingVulnerability.aspx