MediumPublic exploit

Buffer Overflow in McAfee Security Center mcsubmgr.dll ActiveX Control

IdentifiersCVE-2006-3961CWE-120

A buffer overflow vulnerability exists in the McSubMgr ActiveX control (mcsubmgr.dll) used by McAfee Security Center 6.0.23 and related products (Internet Security Suite 2006, Wireless Home Network Security, Personal Firewall Plus, VirusScan, Privacy Service, SpamKiller, AntiSpyware, and QuickClean). The vulnerability is triggered when a remote, user-assisted attacker provides overly long string parameters to the control, which are subsequently processed by vsprintf without proper bounds checking, leading to a buffer overflow.

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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 allows remote attackers to execute arbitrary code with the privileges of the user running the affected application. This can lead to full system compromise if the user has administrative rights. The attack requires user interaction, such as visiting a malicious web page or opening a crafted file.

Mitigation

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

Disable or set the kill bit for the vulnerable ActiveX control (mcsubmgr.dll) in Internet Explorer to prevent its use in the browser. Restrict access to untrusted web content and educate users about the risks of interacting with suspicious web pages or files. Employ endpoint protection solutions that can detect and block exploitation attempts.

Remediation

Patch, then assume compromise.

Upgrade to a patched version of McAfee Security Center and all affected products. McAfee should be contacted for security updates addressing this vulnerability. Ensure that all security software is kept up to date with the latest patches from the vendor.

PUBLIC EXPLOITS

Exploits

1 valid exploit after Mallory filtered fakes, detection scripts, and README-only repos.

VALID 1 / 1 TOTALView more in app

mcafee_mcsubmgr_vsprintf.rbMaturityWeaponizedFrameworkmetasploitVerified exploit

This repository contains a single Metasploit module targeting a stack buffer overflow vulnerability (CVE-2006-3961) in the McAfee Subscription Manager ActiveX control. The exploit is delivered via a malicious HTML page served by the Metasploit framework's HTTP server. When a vulnerable client (Windows XP SP0/SP1 with the affected ActiveX control, typically via Internet Explorer) visits the page, JavaScript instantiates the control and calls its IsAppExpired method with a specially crafted, oversized string, triggering a buffer overflow and allowing arbitrary code execution. The module supports customizable payloads up to 1014 bytes, with bad character filtering and encoding options. The main fingerprintable endpoint is the ActiveX control's CLSID. The exploit is operational and requires user interaction (visiting the attacker's page) to succeed.

Disclosed Aug 1, 2006rubybrowser

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

McafeeAntispywareapplication

McafeeInternet Security Suiteapplication

McafeePersonal Firewall Plusapplication

McafeePrivacy Serviceapplication

McafeeQuickcleanapplication

McafeeSecurity Centerapplication

McafeeSpamkillerapplication

McafeeVirusscanapplication

McafeeWireless Home Network Securityapplication

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

ACTIVITY FEED

Recent activity

No public activity tracked yet. Mallory keeps watching.

0 SOURCESView more in app

No public activity observed for this vulnerability.

What this page doesn’t show

The version that knows your environment.

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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