CVE-2011-1260: Internet Explorer memory corruption in object handling

Automated analysis

Generated by VULONE's analysis model from the NVD record, CISA KEV and EPSS data on 19 September 2026. Confidence: medium.

high priorityRemote code execution with no authentication and a very high EPSS score, though the affected browser versions are legacy and no KEV listing confirms active exploitation.

What it is

Internet Explorer 8 and 9 fail to properly handle objects in memory, specifically objects that were not properly initialized or have been deleted. This layout memory corruption flaw allows remote code execution when a crafted page is rendered. It matters because IE was widely deployed and the flaw is remotely reachable with no authentication.

Impact

An attacker can execute arbitrary code in the context of the logged-on user, giving full control of the affected system. This includes reading data, installing programs, and modifying or deleting files.

Attack surface

Reached over the network via a crafted web page rendered in Internet Explorer 8 or 9; the CVSS vector AV:N/AC:M/Au:N indicates no authentication is required, though some user interaction such as visiting the page is implied by the medium access complexity.

Exploitation

Not listed in CISA KEV and no reference tags indicate known exploitation, but EPSS is 0.60849 (99.1st percentile), indicating a high predicted likelihood of exploitation activity.

What to do

• Apply Microsoft security bulletin MS11-050, which addresses this vulnerability.
• Upgrade to a supported browser or IE version that is not affected.
• Disable or restrict ActiveX and scripting where feasible to reduce exposure to crafted pages.
• Enforce network-level filtering and email/web gateway inspection for malicious HTML content.

Detection

• Monitor for IE 8/9 crashes or abnormal process termination that may indicate memory corruption attempts.
• Hunt for suspicious child processes spawned by iexplore.exe, such as cmd.exe or powershell.exe.
• Review proxy and web logs for known exploit-hosting domains or malformed HTML patterns targeting IE.
• Use endpoint detection to flag memory corruption behavior in iexplore.exe consistent with use-after-free or uninitialized object access.

This assessment is produced automatically and is not human-reviewed. Verify against the vendor advisory before acting on it.