CVE-2003-0701
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 · uneditedBuffer overflow in Internet Explorer 6 SP1 for certain languages that support double-byte encodings (e.g., Japanese) allows remote attackers to execute arbitrary code via the Type property of an Object tag, a variant of CVE-2003-0344.
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 · moderate confidenceBuffer overflow vulnerability in Internet Explorer 6 SP1 allows remote code execution through the Type property of an Object tag, specifically when processing double-byte character set (DBCS) encodings used in languages such as Japanese. This is a variant of CVE-2003-0344 and achieves a CVSS score of 7.5 (HIGH).
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= 6.0= 5.01= 5.5= 6.0CVSS 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 checksWork through these to decide whether this CVE applies to you.
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Identify installed Internet Explorer versionOpen a command prompt and run: reg query 'HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Internet Explorer' /v Version or check the IE helpAbout dialogAffected if The version shown is 5.01, 5.5, or 6.0 (any sub-version)
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Confirm Internet Explorer Service Pack levelCheck the Windows Update history or run: reg query 'HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Internet Settings' /v UrlVersion (or check via IE HelpAbout)Affected if Internet Explorer 6.0 is at Service Pack 1 level (SP1)
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Check for double-byte character set (DBCS) language supportOpen Control Panel > Regional and Language Options and verify if East Asian languages (Japanese, Chinese, Korean) are installed, or check system locale settingAffected if DBCS language support (Japanese, Chinese, or Korean) is enabled on the system
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Verify if legacy Internet Explorer is in active useCheck default browser settings in Windows or verify if applications embed IE components (WebBrowser Control) via registry at HKEY_CLASSES_ROOT\CLSID\{8856F961-340A-11D0-A96B-00C04FD705A2}Affected if Internet Explorer is set as the default browser or legacy IE components are present and accessible
The system is affected if Internet Explorer version 5.01, 5.5, or 6.0 SP1 is installed AND the system has DBCS language support enabled (JapaneseChineseKorean).
Generated from the published advisory. Verify against your own configuration.
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 dataSince Internet Explorer 6 SP1 is obsolete and no longer supported, the primary remediation is to migrate to a modern, supported web browser and remove legacy installations from affected systems.
- Consultation1.0 h
- Implementation2.0 h
- Testing1.0 h
- Review / QA1.0 h
An estimate, not a bill — we confirm scope with you before any work starts. Need it this week? Rush from $1,424.
Scan for this in your stack
Free · runs locallyCheck whether your project pulls in CVE-2003-0701 — or any other known-vulnerable package — straight from your lock files. Free and open source; it runs locally and uploads nothing.
References Go to the primary sourcePrimary sources — vendor advisories, patches and trackers. Where our summary and a reference disagree, the reference wins.
Primary sourcesPractitioner notes
ContributedPeer-ranked notes from engineers who’ve handled CVE-2003-0701 in production — separate from our analysis above.
The advisory tells you what broke. It rarely tells you what actually worked. If you’ve dealt with this one, that detail is what the next engineer is searching for.
- The version that genuinely resolved it — not the one the vendor claimed
- A config change or rule that shut the vector down
- A gotcha in the upgrade path that cost you an afternoon
No notes yet
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- 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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