Software Engineering Institute

The IBM Access Support eGatherer ActiveX control has the ability to collect system information, such as make, model, serial number, OS version, etc. This control is available on the IBM / Lenovo web site, and also may come pre-installed on IBM and Lenovo computer systems. This control contains a buffer overflow vulnerability.

By convincing a user to view a specially crafted HTML document (e.g., a web page or an HTML email message or attachment), an attacker may be able to execute arbitrary code with the privileges of the user. The attacker could also cause Internet Explorer (or the program using the WebBrowser control) to crash.

Apply an update

This vulnerability is addressed in version 3.20.0284.0 of the eGatherer ActiveX control.

Disable the eGatherer ActiveX control

The eGatherer ActiveX control can be disabled by setting the kill bit for the following CLSID:

{74FFE28D-2378-11D5-990C-006094235084}
More information about how to set the kill bit is available in Microsoft Support Document 240797.

Disable ActiveX

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