Attack Chain

1. An attacker crafts a malicious webpage containing JavaScript or other scripting elements designed to trigger the use-after-free condition.
2. The victim visits the malicious webpage using a vulnerable version of Internet Explorer.
3. The browser attempts to access a memory location that has already been freed, triggering the use-after-free condition.
4. The attacker leverages the memory corruption to overwrite data structures within the browser’s memory space.
5. The attacker gains control of program execution by overwriting function pointers or other critical data.
6. The attacker injects shellcode into the browser’s memory.
7. The injected shellcode executes, allowing the attacker to perform arbitrary actions on the victim’s system.
8. The attacker installs malware, exfiltrates data, or performs other malicious activities.

Impact

Successful exploitation of CVE-2010-0806 allows a remote attacker to execute arbitrary code on the victim’s machine. This can lead to complete system compromise, data theft, malware installation, and other malicious activities. Given the age of the vulnerability, vulnerable systems are likely to be unpatched and highly susceptible to exploitation. The number of potential victims depends on the prevalence of vulnerable Internet Explorer instances.

Recommendation

• Discontinue the use of Microsoft Internet Explorer due to the potential for unmitigated vulnerabilities, as stated in the advisory.
• If discontinuing use is not feasible, apply mitigations per vendor instructions as mentioned in the advisory.
• Enable Sysmon process-creation logging to potentially detect shellcode execution originating from Internet Explorer (see example rule below).
• Monitor web server logs for access to suspicious URLs that might exploit this or similar vulnerabilities.