Internet ExplorerApplication · Microsoft

CVE-2007-3924

HIGH · 9.3 CVSS v2.0 Published 2007-07-21
Mitigation only
No fix yet — a mitigation exists. There is no fixed release. A documented workaround reduces exposure in the meantime.
See remediation →
100/100
Remediation priority · Urgent
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
Argument injection vulnerability in Microsoft Internet Explorer, when running on systems with Netscape installed and certain URIs registered, allows remote attackers to conduct cross-browser scripting attacks and execute arbitrary commands via shell metacharacters in a -chrome argument to the navigatorurl URI, which are inserted into the command line that is created when invoking netscape.exe, a related issue to CVE-2007-3670. NOTE: there has been debate about whether the issue is in Internet Explorer or Netscape. As of 20070713, it is CVE's opinion that IE appears to not properly delimit the URL argument when invoking Netscape; this issue could arise with other protocol handlers in IE.

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

Argument injection vulnerability in Microsoft Internet Explorer allows remote attackers to execute arbitrary commands via shell metacharacters in the navigatorurl URI when invoking netscape.exe. IE fails to properly delimit the URL argument, allowing injection of the -chrome parameter with malicious content.

MitigationDisable the navigatorurl protocol handler registration in Internet Explorer or remove Netscape installations from affected systems. Apply any available Microsoft security updates for this issue.

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
Internet ExplorerApplication
Affected:all versions
NavigatorApplication
Affected:= 9.0

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
M
Authentication
None
Confidentiality
Complete
Integrity
Complete
Availability
Complete

AV:N/AC:M/Au:N/C:C/I:C/A:C

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. Confirm Internet Explorer installation
    Check for the presence of Internet Explorer on the system (e.g., check for iexplore.exe in Program Files or the default browser setting)
    Affected if Internet Explorer is installed - all versions are affected by this vulnerability
  2. Confirm Netscape Navigator version
    Check if Netscape Navigator version 9.0 is installed on the system
    Affected if Netscape Navigator 9.0 is installed - this version is specifically required for the exploit chain
  3. Check for navigatorurl protocol handler
    Inspect Windows registry for the navigatorurl protocol handler registration (typically under HKCR\navigatorurl or similar keys)
    Affected if The navigatorurl protocol handler is registered in Windows - this is the attack vector used
  4. Verify netscape.exe presence
    Search for netscape.exe in common installation directories or system PATH
    Affected if netscape.exe exists on the system - IE invokes this executable when handling navigatorurl URIs

A system is affected if it has Internet Explorer installed AND Netscape Navigator 9.0 installed AND the navigatorurl protocol handler is registered, allowing the argument injection to occur.

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

Disable the navigatorurl protocol handler registration in Internet Explorer or remove Netscape installations from affected systems. Apply any available Microsoft security updates for this issue.

Fix this in Internet Explorer Scoped from the published advisory
  • Consultation4.0 h
  • Implementation2.0 h
  • Testing3.0 h
  • Review / QA1.0 h
10.0 hours of engineering $1,790
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Scan for this in your stack

Free · runs locally
dbcve dependency scanner

Check whether your project pulls in CVE-2007-3924 — 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 sources

Practitioner notes

Contributed

Peer-ranked notes from engineers who’ve handled CVE-2007-3924 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
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