Actively exploited vulnerability
Microsoft Internet Explorer: privilege escalation flaw under attack
CVE-2014-4123 · Microsoft Internet Explorer Privilege Escalation Vulnerability
What is affected
Microsoft Internet Explorer is found on ordinary personal computers and phones, so this is not only a problem for companies. If you use it and have not updated since the fix was released, you are exposed.
Microsoft Internet Explorer contains an unspecified vulnerability that allows remote attackers to gain privileges via a crafted web site.
What an attacker can do
This is a privilege escalation flaw. It lets an attacker turn limited access into full administrator control. Attackers pair it with another flaw or a malicious file: once anything of theirs runs on the device, this bug lets it take over completely.
- How it is reached
- Over the internet or network
- Access the attacker needs
- No account needed
- Does the victim have to do something?
- Yes, the victim must open or click something
What to do
- Update Microsoft Internet Explorer now. Open the update or "About" screen, install whatever is offered and restart the app or device, because the fix is not active until you do.
- Turn on automatic updates so the next fix arrives without you having to look for it.
- If your device is too old to receive this update, stop using the affected app for anything sensitive and plan a replacement.
Apply updates per vendor instructions.
How urgent is it
CISA added this vulnerability to its Known Exploited Vulnerabilities catalogue on May 25, 2022, which means there is reliable evidence of attacks in the wild. US federal agencies must fix it by June 15, 2022, a deadline that has already passed. That deadline does not bind anyone else, but it shows how seriously the agency rates it.
The EPSS model estimates a 47% probability that this flaw will be exploited somewhere in the next 30 days. That is higher than 99% of all scored vulnerabilities.
Its CVSS severity score is 8.8 out of 10 (high), as recorded in the US National Vulnerability Database.
Technical description
Microsoft Internet Explorer 7 through 11 allows remote attackers to gain privileges via a crafted web site, aka "Internet Explorer Elevation of Privilege Vulnerability," as exploited in the wild in October 2014, a different vulnerability than CVE-2014-4124.