CVE-2015-2502

Deeper analysis

Microsoft Internet Explorer versions 7 through 11 contain a memory corruption vulnerability, tracked as CVE-2015-2502 and assigned CWE-787, that stems from improper handling of crafted web content. The flaw permits out-of-bounds writes and carries a CVSS 3.1 base score of 8.8, reflecting network attack vectors with low complexity and no required privileges beyond user interaction.

Remote attackers can exploit the issue by serving a malicious webpage that triggers the corruption when rendered in an affected browser instance. Successful exploitation grants arbitrary code execution in the context of the current user or, alternatively, a denial-of-service condition through memory corruption.

Public references, including contemporaneous security advisories, indicate that Microsoft released an emergency out-of-band patch to address the flaw after observing active exploitation in August 2015. The references further note that the vulnerability was already being used in targeted attacks at the time of disclosure.