CVE-2024-43461: Windows MSHTML Platform Spoofing Flaw

CVE-2024-43461 Overview

The Windows MSHTML Platform Spoofing Vulnerability (CVE-2024-43461) is a critical flaw that allows attackers to manipulate the MSHTML component, potentially leading to spoofing attacks. Exploiting this vulnerability can enable threat actors to impersonate legitimate websites or applications, causing users to unwittingly expose sensitive information.

Critical Impact
This vulnerability has a high CVSS score of 8.8 and is actively exploited in the wild, making immediate patching essential.

Affected Products

Microsoft Windows 10 1507
Microsoft Windows 10 1607
Microsoft Windows 10 1809

Discovery Timeline

Not Available - Vulnerability discovered by Not Available
Not Available - Responsible disclosure to Microsoft
Not Available - CVE CVE-2024-43461 assigned
Not Available - Microsoft releases security patch
2024-09-10 - CVE CVE-2024-43461 published to NVD
2025-10-28 - Last updated in NVD database

Technical Details for CVE-2024-43461

Vulnerability Analysis

CVE-2024-43461 resides within the MSHTML platform, where improper handling of HTML contents allows attackers to craft malicious documents. By exploiting this vulnerability, an attacker can alter the appearance of web content, making phishing attempts difficult to detect.

Root Cause

The root cause of this vulnerability stems from inadequate validation of HTML input, leading to improper URL rendering and spoofing.

Attack Vector

The attack vector is predominantly network-based, where attackers deliver specially crafted content via email or malicious websites.

javascript

// Example exploitation code (sanitized)
var maliciousURL = 'http://malicious.example.com';
var legitimateURL = document.getElementById('legitURL');
legitimateURL.href = maliciousURL;

Detection Methods for CVE-2024-43461

Indicators of Compromise

Unusual redirects to known phishing domains
Unexpected HTTP requests from MSHTML
HTML files with abnormal attributes or scripts

Detection Strategies

Utilize security software capable of detecting anomalies in browser behaviors and network traffic. Sentinels from SentinelOne can identify phishing attempts and unauthorized URL redirections that leverage this vulnerability.

Monitoring Recommendations

Continuously monitor network logs for connections to known malicious hosts and inspect emails for suspicious attachments or links.

How to Mitigate CVE-2024-43461

Immediate Actions Required

Update Windows operating systems with the latest security patches released by Microsoft.
Educate users about the risks of phishing and spoofed websites.
Deploy security solutions like SentinelOne for advanced threat detection.

Patch Information

Patches are available through Microsoft's official advisory here.

Workarounds

Limit the use of MSHTML for parsing untrusted content and consider using alternative rendering engines where applicable.

powershell

# Configuration example to restrict MSHTML
Add-MpPreference -ExclusionPath "C:\Path\To\MSHTML"