dbcve.org
IeApplication · Microsoft

CVE-2003-0531

HIGH · 7.5 CVSS v2.0 Published 2003-08-27
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
Internet Explorer 5.01 SP3 through 6.0 SP1 allows remote attackers to access and execute script in the My Computer domain using the browser cache via crafted Content-Type and Content-Disposition headers, aka the "Browser Cache Script Execution in My Computer Zone" vulnerability.

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

This is a vulnerability in Internet Explorer 5.01 SP3 through 6.0 SP1 where specially crafted Content-Type and Content-Disposition HTTP headers can cause the browser to cache malicious scripts and execute them within the trusted My Computer zone, bypassing security restrictions.

MitigationSince Internet Explorer is deprecated, the primary remediation is to migrate to modern browsers (Edge, Chrome, Firefox). For legacy systems requiring IE compatibility, apply historical Microsoft security patches and consider using Enterprise Mode or isolated virtualized environments.

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 iexplore.exe in common locations (C:\Program Files\Internet Explorer\iexplore.exe) or check the registry key HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Internet Explorer for the Version value
    Affected if If iexplore.exe exists or the registry key contains an IE Version value, the browser is installed and potentially affected
  2. Determine the exact IE version number
    Open IE, go to Help > About, or run 'reg query "HKLM\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Internet Explorer" /v Version' at command prompt. The version will appear as major.minor.build (for example, 6.0.2800 or 5.0.3310)
    Affected if If the version is 5.0.1 (build below 3315), 5.5 (any build), or 6.0 (any build including SP1), the system is in the affected version range
  3. Check for the presence of historical security patches
    Run 'reg query "HKLM\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Windows NT\CurrentVersion"' to identify the OS, then check for installed patches via 'wmic qfe list' or review Windows Update history for security updates released after August 2003
    Affected if If the system lacks the MS03-040 patch (or subsequent cumulative IE patches) and runs an affected IE version, the vulnerability remains unpatched
  4. Confirm the My Computer zone security configuration
    In IE, go to Internet Options > Security tab > select My Computer zone > click Custom Level. Verify the settings for 'Script ActiveX controls marked safe for scripting' and 'Run active content from CD or files on this computer'
    Affected if If the My Computer zone has permissive settings enabled (such as 'Enable' for active content execution), the exploitation impact is higher, though the vulnerability itself requires the unpatched version condition above

A system is affected if it runs any unpatched installation of Internet Explorer 5.01 SP3 through 6.0 SP1, as identified by the version check in step 2.

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

Since Internet Explorer is deprecated, the primary remediation is to migrate to modern browsers (Edge, Chrome, Firefox). For legacy systems requiring IE compatibility, apply historical Microsoft security patches and consider using Enterprise Mode or isolated virtualized environments.

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
Get help mitigating

An estimate, not a bill — we confirm scope with you before any work starts. Need it this week? Rush from $2,560.

Scan for this in your stack

Free · runs locally
dbcve dependency scanner

Check whether your project pulls in CVE-2003-0531 — or any other known-vulnerable package — straight from your lock files. Free and open source; it runs locally and uploads nothing.

Get it on GitHub Scan in the browser

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-2003-0531 in production — separate from our analysis above.

No notes yet

Be the first to add a field note for this CVE — a mitigation you’ve verified, a version caveat, or a link to a working fix. Sign in above to contribute.

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
  • No spam, self-promotion, credentials, or personal data