CVE-2018-8552: VBScript memory disclosure in Internet Explorer

Automated analysis

Generated by VULONE's analysis model from the NVD record, CISA KEV and EPSS data on 20 September 2026. Confidence: medium.

high priorityCVSS is 7.5 high, public exploit code exists, and EPSS is near the top percentile, though exploitation requires user interaction and the product is legacy.

What it is

VBScript in Internet Explorer 9, 10 and 11 improperly discloses the contents of its memory, a flaw classified as CWE-119 memory buffer overflow and described by Microsoft as a Windows Scripting Engine memory corruption issue. Leaked memory contents can reveal data useful for building further attacks against the user's machine, and the affected browsers are legacy components still present on many Windows systems.

Impact

An attacker gains disclosure of memory contents from the scripting engine, which can expose sensitive data and provide information needed to craft a follow-on compromise of the user's computer or data.

Attack surface

Reached over the network through a crafted page or content rendered by Internet Explorer; the CVSS vector shows no privileges required but user interaction required (UI:R), so the victim must open or interact with the malicious content.

Exploitation

Not listed in CISA KEV, but EPSS is high at roughly 0.51 (98.9th percentile) and an Exploit-DB entry tagged Exploit exists, indicating public exploit code is available.

What to do

• Apply the Microsoft security update referenced in the MSRC advisory for CVE-2018-8552 as the first action.
• Retire or disable Internet Explorer and VBScript where business needs allow, since both are legacy components.
• Enforce a modern browser as default and block IE rendering of untrusted sites via site or zone policy.
• Restrict or block VBScript execution through attack surface reduction and scripting engine controls.
• Limit user rights and apply exploit protection (for example, mitigations against memory corruption) on endpoints that must retain IE.

Detection

• Monitor for Internet Explorer processes (iexplore.exe) spawning script hosts or unexpected child processes.
• Alert on crashes or memory corruption indicators in the VBScript/scripting engine tied to browser sessions.
• Hunt proxy and web logs for IE user agents retrieving pages from untrusted or newly seen hosts.
• Review endpoint telemetry for exploit-like behavior in IE or VBScript following user browsing activity.

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