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Critical

Internet Explorer 11 Memory Corruption Vulnerability

IdentifiersCVE-2015-0040CWE-119

CVE-2015-0040 is a memory corruption vulnerability in Microsoft Internet Explorer 11. According to the provided content, the flaw can be triggered when a user visits a specially crafted website in IE 11. Microsoft classifies it as an Internet Explorer memory corruption vulnerability and indicates that the affected code improperly handles objects in memory. Successful exploitation can result in arbitrary code execution or denial of service. This issue is distinct from CVE-2015-0018, CVE-2015-0037, and CVE-2015-0066.

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ANALYST BRIEF

Impact, mitigation & remediation

What it means. What to do now. Patch path, mitigations, and the assume-compromise checklist.

Impact

What an attacker gets, and what they’ve been doing with it.

Successful exploitation can allow remote code execution in the security context of the current user. If the victim is running with administrative privileges, the attacker may be able to fully compromise the affected system. The provided description also notes that exploitation may cause denial of service through memory corruption.

Mitigation

If you can’t patch tonight, do this now.

The provided bulletin states there were no specific workarounds for the memory corruption vulnerabilities. Risk can be reduced by operating users without administrative privileges and, on Windows Server systems, by relying on Internet Explorer Enhanced Security Configuration, which reduces exposure to specially crafted web content. Standard exposure reduction also includes avoiding untrusted links, malicious attachments, compromised websites, and malvertising paths used to deliver the crafted content.

Remediation

Patch, then assume compromise.

Apply Microsoft's February 2015 Internet Explorer security update 3034682 and any associated prerequisite or companion updates required for full protection on the affected platform. The bulletin states that for Internet Explorer 9, 10, and 11, both update 3021952 and update 3034196 are required for full protection, with manual installation order requiring 3021952 before 3034196. Microsoft states the fixes address the issue by changing how Internet Explorer handles objects in memory.
PUBLIC EXPLOITS

Exploits

No valid public exploits. Mallory filtered out 1 candidate as fakes, detection scripts, or README-only repos.

VALID 0 / 1 TOTALView more in app

All candidate exploits were filtered out by Mallory's validation.

EXPOSURE SURFACE

Affected products & vendors

Products and vendors Mallory has correlated with this vulnerability. Open in Mallory to drill down to specific CPE configurations and version ranges.

VendorProductType
Microsoft CorporationInternet Explorerapplication

Vendor-confirmed product mapping. Mallory continuously reconciles this list against your asset inventory.

ACTIVITY FEED

Recent activity

2 sources tracked across advisories, community write-ups, and news. New activity surfaces here as Mallory finds it.

2 SOURCESView more in app
What this page doesn’t show

The version that knows your environment.

This page is what’s public. Mallory adds the parts that aren’t: which of your assets are affected, which adversaries are exploiting it right now, which detections to deploy, and what to do tonight.
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Exposure mapping

Query your assets running an affected version, and investigate the blast radius.

Threat actor evidence

Every observed campaign linking this CVE to a named adversary.

Associated malware

Malware families riding this exploit, with evidence and IOCs.

Detection signatures

YARA, Sigma, Snort, and vendor rules, auto-deployed to your SIEM.

Vendor-by-vendor mapping

Cross-references every affected SKU, including bundled OEM variants.

Social activity

Community discussion across Reddit, Mastodon, and other social sources.

EXTERNAL REFERENCES
MITRE CVE
cve.org · CVE-2015-0040
NVD
nvd.nist.gov/vuln/detail/CVE-2015-0040
MITRE CWE · CWE-119
cwe.mitre.org
blog.skylined.nl
blog.skylined.nl/20161114001.html
securityfocus.com
securityfocus.com/archive/1/539752/100/0/threaded
securityfocus.com
securityfocus.com/bid/72410
securitytracker.com
securitytracker.com/id/1031723
docs.microsoft.com
docs.microsoft.com/en-us/security-updates/securitybulletins/2015/ms15-009
exploit-db.com
exploit-db.com/exploits/40757