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IeApplication · Microsoft

CVE-2003-0115

HIGH · 7.5 CVSS v2.0 Published 2003-05-12
Mitigation only
No fix yet — a mitigation exists. There is no fixed release. A documented workaround reduces exposure in the meantime.
See remediation →
84/100
Remediation priority · High
Remotely reachable No privileges Zero-click

Official description Straight from the sourceThe vendor's or NVD's own wording, published unedited. Authoritative, but often terse — it says what broke, rarely what to do.

NVD · unedited
Microsoft Internet Explorer 5.01, 5.5 and 6.0 does not properly check parameters that are passed during third party rendering, which could allow remote attackers to execute arbitrary web script, aka the "Third Party Plugin Rendering" vulnerability, a different vulnerability than CVE-2003-0233.

Technical summary Written by usOur analysis, written from the advisory, the CVSS vector and the affected-version data. It adds context the advisory leaves out, and never invents facts that are not in the source.

dbcve analysis · high confidence

Internet Explorer 5.01, 5.5, and 6.0 fails to properly validate parameters passed during third-party plugin rendering, allowing remote attackers to inject and execute arbitrary web script in the security context of the affected site.

MitigationApply Microsoft security patches for this vulnerability or migrate to a supported browser (Microsoft Edge or alternatives), as Internet Explorer is deprecated.

Verify against the referenced sources before acting — the references below are authoritative for this CVE, this summary is not.

Affected products & versions What the vendor confirmedThe version ranges the vendor confirmed as vulnerable. If your version sits inside a range here, treat yourself as exposed until you have upgraded.

NVD · CPE data
IeApplication
Affected:= 6.0
Internet ExplorerApplication
Affected:= 5.0.1= 5.5= 6.0

CVSS breakdown How the score is builtThe industry scoring standard. It rates how the flaw is reached, what it takes to exploit, and what an attacker gains — the score is derived from those, not the other way round.

From the vector
Attack vector
Network
Complexity
Low
Authentication
None
Confidentiality
Partial
Integrity
Partial
Availability
Partial

AV:N/AC:L/Au:N/C:P/I:P/A:P

Am I affected? How to checkSteps we derive from the advisory and the affected-version data, so you can decide whether this CVE reaches your setup. They are a guide, not a scan — your own configuration is the authority.

dbcve checks

Work through these to decide whether this CVE applies to you.

  1. Verify Internet Explorer is installed
    Check for the presence of Internet Explorer on the system. On Windows, look for iexplore.exe in Program Files or attempt to launch it via Start menu or command line.
    Affected if Internet Explorer is present on the system
  2. Determine the installed IE version
    Launch Internet Explorer, then navigate to Help > About Internet Explorer, or enter 'iexplore.exe -version' in command prompt to retrieve the version number.
    Affected if The installed version is 5.0.1, 5.5, or 6.0
  3. Check for third-party plugins or add-ons
    In Internet Explorer, go to Tools > Manage Add-ons to view installed third-party plugins, BHOs (Browser Helper Objects), or ActiveX controls.
    Affected if Third-party plugins, add-ons, or ActiveX controls are enabled and loaded in IE

The system is affected if Internet Explorer versions 5.0.1, 5.5, or 6.0 is installed with third-party plugins or add-ons enabled, as the vulnerability exploits improper parameter validation during plugin rendering.

Generated from the published advisory. Verify against your own configuration.

Check your environment

Paste your version and any relevant configuration and it will be compared against the affected criteria above. Do not include secrets or credentials.

AI-assisted, checked against the advisory. Informational, not a guarantee.

Remediation Closing itWhat it takes to close this. Where a vendor fix exists we point at it; where none exists we say so plainly, and can build one. Effort estimates are scoped from the advisory, not from your codebase.

From vendor data
Mitigation available No clean upgrade yet — mitigate in the meantime
Mitigation

Apply Microsoft security patches for this vulnerability or migrate to a supported browser (Microsoft Edge or alternatives), as Internet Explorer is deprecated.

Fix this in Ie Scoped from the published advisory
  • Consultation2.0 h
  • Implementation4.0 h
  • Testing2.0 h
  • Review / QA1.0 h
9.0 hours of engineering $1,600
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References Go to the primary sourcePrimary sources — vendor advisories, patches and trackers. Where our summary and a reference disagree, the reference wins.

Primary sources

Practitioner notes

Contributed

Peer-ranked notes from engineers who’ve handled CVE-2003-0115 in production — separate from our analysis above.

No notes yet

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What this is

A place for practitioners to share what actually worked: a mitigation you’ve tested, a configuration change, a version- or environment-specific caveat, or a link to a verified patch. The most useful notes rise to the top as peers upvote them, so the signal stays high.

What belongs here
  • Verified mitigations, workarounds, and config changes
  • Version or environment caveats, and links to real fixes
  • No weaponised exploit code, or anything meant to cause harm
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