Acer AcerCtrls.APlunch ActiveX Control fails to properly restrict access to methods

Overview

The Acer AcerCtrls.APlunch ActiveX control contains methods that can allow a remote, unauthenticated attacker to run arbitrary commands on a vulnerable system.

Description

The Acer AcerCtrls.APlunch ActiveX control is provided by acerctrl.ocx. It contains a method called Run(), which takes two parameters: Drive and FileName. Although the control is not inherently marked as safe for scripting via the IObjectSafety interface, it may be distributed with the appropriate Implemented Categories registry key to make it safe for scripting. This means that a web page in Internet Explorer can call the Run() method of the control.

Note that this vulnerability is similar to but not the same issue as VU#221700. This control has different parameters and uses a different CLSID that is not included in the killbits provided with Microsoft Security Bulletin MS07-027.

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Impact

By convincing a victim to view an HTML document (web page, HTML email, or email attachment), an attacker could run arbitrary commands with the privileges of the user running IE.

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Solution

We are currently unaware of a practical solution to this problem. Please consider the following workarounds:

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Disable the AcerAcerCtrls.APlunch ActiveX control in Internet Explorer

The Acer AcerCtrls.APlunch ActiveX control can be disabled in Internet Explorer by setting the kill bit for the following CLSID:

{``3895DD35-7573-11D2-8FED-00606730D3AA``}
More information about how to set the kill bit is available in Microsoft Support Document 240797. Alternatively, the following text can be saved as a .REG file and imported to set the kill bit for this control:

Windows Registry Editor Version 5.00

[HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Internet Explorer\ActiveX Compatibility\{``3895DD35-7573-11D2-8FED-00606730D3AA``}]
"Compatibility Flags"=dword:00000400
[HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE``\Wow6432Node``\Microsoft\Internet Explorer\ActiveX Compatibility\{``3895DD35-7573-11D2-8FED-00606730D3AA``}]
"Compatibility Flags"=dword:00000400
Disable ActiveX

Disabling ActiveX controls in the Internet Zone (or any zone used by an attacker) appears to prevent exploitation of this and other ActiveX vulnerabilities. Instructions for disabling ActiveX in the Internet Zone can be found in the "Securing Your Web Browser" document.

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Vendor Information

485961

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Acer __ Affected

Notified: May 09, 2007 Updated: August 17, 2009

Status

Affected

Vendor Statement

We have not received a statement from the vendor.

Vendor Information

The vendor has not provided us with any further information regarding this vulnerability.

Addendum

Please disable the vulnerable control.

If you have feedback, comments, or additional information about this vulnerability, please send us [email](<mailto:[email protected]?Subject=VU%23485961 Feedback>).

CVSS Metrics

Group	Score	Vector
Base
Temporal
Environmental

References

• <http://vuln.sg/acerlunchapp-en.html&gt;
• <http://support.microsoft.com/kb/240797&gt;

Acknowledgements

Thanks to Michael Costa of Crosshair Information Technology & Security LLC for reporting this vulnerability.

This document was written by Will Dormann.

Other Information

CVE IDs:	CVE-2009-2627
Severity Metric:	5.06 Date Public: