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IeApplication · Microsoft

CVE-2006-3659

MEDIUM · 5.0 CVSS v2.0 Published 2006-07-18
Mitigation only
No fix yet — a mitigation exists. There is no fixed release. A documented workaround reduces exposure in the meantime.
See remediation →
59/100
Remediation priority · Elevated
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 6 allows remote attackers to cause a denial of service (crash) by setting the location or URL property of a MHTMLFile ActiveX object.

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 confidence

Microsoft Internet Explorer 6 contains a denial of service vulnerability where setting the location or URL property of an MHTMLFile ActiveX object causes the browser to crash. This is a client-side vulnerability specific to IE6 that requires user interaction (visiting a malicious page or opening a crafted file).

MitigationUpgrade from Internet Explorer 6 to a supported browser (IE 11, Microsoft Edge, Chrome, or Firefox). Alternatively, disable ActiveX controls in IE6 security settings or apply the relevant Microsoft security update if still required for legacy system support.

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
Internet ExplorerApplication
Affected:= 6

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
None
Integrity
None
Availability
Partial

AV:N/AC:L/Au:N/C:N/I:N/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. Identify installed Internet Explorer version
    Check the iexplore.exe file version in Program Files\Internet Explorer folder, or run 'reg query "HKLM\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Internet Explorer" /v Version' to read the version registry value
    Affected if The version reports 6.0.xxxx indicating Internet Explorer 6 is installed
  2. Verify MHTMLFile ActiveX control is enabled
    In IE6, navigate to Tools > Internet Options > Security > Custom Level and check the ActiveX settings, or examine registry keys under HKCU\Software\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Internet Settings\Zones\ for zone-based ActiveX controls
    Affected if MHTMLFile or general ActiveX controls are not set to 'Disable' or 'Prompt' for the relevant security zone

User is affected if Internet Explorer 6 is installed and ActiveX controls (including MHTMLFile) are enabled in the browser security settings, allowing a malicious webpage to trigger the crash via the location or URL property.

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

Upgrade from Internet Explorer 6 to a supported browser (IE 11, Microsoft Edge, Chrome, or Firefox). Alternatively, disable ActiveX controls in IE6 security settings or apply the relevant Microsoft security update if still required for legacy system support.

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-2006-3659 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
  • No spam, self-promotion, credentials, or personal data