FortiGuard Advisory (FGA-2010-05)

Fortinet Discovers Microsoft Internet Explorer Vulnerability (MS10-002)
2010.January.21

Summary:

Fortinet's FortiGuard Labs has discovered a memory corruption vulnerability in Microsoft's Internet Explorer.

Impact:

Remote Code Execution.

Risk:

Critical.

Affected Software:

For a list of Internet Explorer versions affected, please see the Microsoft Security Advisory reference below.

Additional Information:

In order to compromise a system / remotely execute code, an attacker would lure a user to a maliciously crafted website. When a user views the Web page, the vulnerability could allow remote code execution. An attacker who successfully exploited this vulnerability could gain the same user rights as the logged-on user. If a user is logged on with administrative user rights, an attacker who successfully exploited this vulnerability could take complete control of an affected system.

Solutions:

Since an attack scenario would require a user to visit a malicious website, it is recommended to have a layered security solution through webfiltering and intrusion prevention for mitigation.
  • Use the solution provided by Microsoft (MS10-002).
  • FortiGuard Labs released the signature "MS.IE.MergeAttributes.Remote.Code.Execution".
    • Advanced zero-day protection has been available since September 3, 2009.
FortiGuard Labs continues to monitor attacks against this vulnerability.

Fortinet customers who subscribe to Fortinet's intrusion prevention (IPS) service should be protected against this vulnerability. Fortinet's IPS service is one component of FortiGuard Subscription Services, which also offer comprehensive solutions such as antivirus, Web content filtering and antispam capabilities. These services enable protection against threats on both application and network layers. FortiGuard Services are continuously updated by FortiGuard Labs, which enables Fortinet to deliver a combination of multi-layered security intelligence and true zero-day protection from new and emerging threats. These updates are delivered to all FortiGate, FortiMail and FortiClient products. Fortinet strictly follows responsible disclosure guidelines to ensure optimum protection during a threat's lifecycle.

References:

Acknowledgment:
  • Haifei Li of Fortinet's FortiGuard Labs.


Disclaimer:

Although Fortinet has attempted to provide accurate information in these materials, Fortinet assumes no legal responsibility for the accuracy or completeness of the information. More specific information is available on request from Fortinet. Please note that Fortinet's product information does not constitute or contain any guarantee, warranty or legally binding representation, unless expressly identified as such in a duly signed writing.

About Fortinet ( www.fortinet.com ):

Fortinet is the pioneer and leading provider of ASIC-accelerated unified threat management, or UTM, security systems, which are used by enterprises and service providers to increase their security while reducing total operating costs. Fortinet solutions were built from the ground up to integrate multiple levels of security protection--including firewall, antivirus, intrusion prevention, VPN, spyware prevention and anti-spam -- designed to help customers protect against network and content level threats. Leveraging a custom ASIC and unified interface, Fortinet solutions offer advanced security functionality that scales from remote office to chassis-based solutions with integrated management and reporting. Fortinet solutions have won multiple awards around the world and are the only security products that are certified in six programs by ICSA Labs: (Firewall, Antivirus, IPSec, SSL, Network IPS, and Anti-Spyware). Fortinet is privately held and based in Sunnyvale, California.