Vulnerability Report

CVE-2008-5523

Title: Microsoft Internet Explorer Improper Input Validation

Input Validation Error

Proof Of Concept

No public PoC currently indexed for CVE-2008-5523.

CWE Category CWE-20

Published Date Dec 12, 2008

Modified Date Jun 16, 2026

Exploit Status Not Found

Score 9.3 CVSS v2.0

Exploit Probability (EPSS)

2.90%

Vulnerability Summary

CVE-2008-5523: avast! antivirus 4.8.1281.0, when Internet Explorer 6 or 7 is used, allows remote attackers to bypass detection of malware in an HTML document by placing an MZ header (aka "EXE info") at the beginning, and modifying the filename to have (1) no extension, (2) a .txt extension, or (3) a .jpg extension, as demonstrated by a document containing a CVE-2006-5745 exploit.

Impacted Vendors

avast 1

microsoft 1

alwil 1

Reference Links

http://securityreason.com/securityalert/4723 http://www.securityfocus.com/archive/1/498995/100/0/threaded http://www.securityfocus.com/archive/1/499043/100/0/threaded https://exchange.xforce.ibmcloud.com/vulnerabilities/47435 http://securityreason.com/securityalert/4723 http://www.securityfocus.com/archive/1/498995/100/0/threaded http://www.securityfocus.com/archive/1/499043/100/0/threaded https://exchange.xforce.ibmcloud.com/vulnerabilities/47435

CVSS v2.0

Source Entity [email protected]

Severity HIGH

9.3

Access Vector

N/A

Authentication

N/A

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

Associated Attack Patterns (CAPEC)

Total: Patterns

CVE-2008-5523 Exploits & PoCs (Proof Of Concept)

No public PoCs found in our database for this CVE.

June 16, 2026 MODIFIED

Vulnerability data updated via NVD.

April 09, 2025 MODIFIED

Vulnerability data or affected products updated.

December 12, 2008 PUBLISHED

Vulnerability first announced in NVD.

Attack Vector Matrix

Access Vector N/A

Complexity N/A

Privileges N/A

Interaction NONE

CVSS Vector String


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

Affected Stack

No specific products linked.