# CVE-2013-5045: Privilege escalation in n/a

> Local attackers can bypass Internet Explorer Protected Mode to gain elevated privileges by executing sandboxed code.

- **Severity:** Medium 6.2 (`AV:L/AC:H/Au:N/C:C/I:C/A:C`)
- **Exploited in the wild:** Not known
- **Login needed:** Any signed-in user
- **Attackable:** Local or same network only
- **Victim action needed:** Not needed
- **Fix available:** No
- **Published:** 11 Dec 2013
- **Updated:** 6 Aug 2024
- **Also known as:** GHSA-xv56-4f6g-pxh9

## What is CVE-2013-5045?

CVE-2013-5045 is a medium-severity vulnerability in Microsoft Internet Explorer, published on 11 Dec 2013. It can only be exploited from the same machine or local network, with no action from the victim.

### Official description

Microsoft Internet Explorer 10 and 11 allows local users to bypass the Protected Mode protection mechanism, and consequently gain privileges, by leveraging the ability to execute sandboxed code, aka "Internet Explorer Elevation of Privilege Vulnerability."

Weakness: CWE-20 (Improper Input Validation)

## Which versions are affected by CVE-2013-5045?

It affects 1 product.


Products: Microsoft Internet Explorer.

## How do I fix CVE-2013-5045?

No fix has been published for CVE-2013-5045 yet. Limit exposure of the affected software until one is available.

## Is CVE-2013-5045 being exploited?

It is not confirmed as exploited in the wild, but public exploit code for CVE-2013-5045 exists.

Public exploit code:

- MS13-097 Registry Symlink IE Sandbox Escape (metasploit)
- Microsoft Registry Symlink - IE Sandbox Escape (MS13-097) (Metasploit) (exploitdb)

## Other vulnerabilities in Microsoft Internet Explorer

- [CVE-2014-1776](https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2014-1776/): Microsoft Internet Explorer Memory Corruption (critical 9.8, exploited in the wild)
- [CVE-2021-27085](https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2021-27085/): Microsoft Internet Explorer Remote Code Execution (high 8.8, exploited in the wild)
- [CVE-2017-0222](https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2017-0222/): Microsoft Internet Explorer Remote Code Execution (high 8.8, exploited in the wild)
- [CVE-2017-0210](https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2017-0210/): Microsoft Internet Explorer Privilege Escalation (high 8.8, exploited in the wild)
- [CVE-2017-0149](https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2017-0149/): Microsoft Internet Explorer Memory Corruption (high 8.8, exploited in the wild)

## Fix prompt for AI coding agents

```text
Check this codebase for CVE-2013-5045 and fix it if it is affected.

What it is: CVE-2013-5045 is a medium-severity vulnerability in Microsoft Internet Explorer, published on 11 Dec 2013. It can only be exploited from the same machine or local network, with no action from the victim.
Exploitation: It is not confirmed as exploited in the wild, but public exploit code for CVE-2013-5045 exists.

Affected product: Microsoft Internet Explorer. No package-level version data is available, so check the vendor advisory linked from the reference page.

Task:
1. Search the dependency manifests and lockfiles (for example package.json, package-lock.json, requirements.txt, poetry.lock, uv.lock, pom.xml, build.gradle, go.mod, Cargo.lock, Gemfile.lock) and any Dockerfiles for the affected packages, including transitive dependencies.
2. If an affected version is in use, upgrade it to the fixed version for its release line with the project's package manager, so the lockfile is regenerated. Prefer the smallest upgrade that fixes it.
3. If there is no fix, or the upgrade would break the build, do not guess: explain the risk and the safest workaround instead.
4. Run the tests and summarise what changed and why.
5. If nothing in the project is affected, say so and change nothing.

Reference: https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2013-5045/ (Markdown: https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2013-5045/index.md)
```

## Sources

- CVE record: https://www.cve.org/CVERecord?id=CVE-2013-5045
- NVD: https://nvd.nist.gov/vuln/detail/CVE-2013-5045
- OSV: https://osv.dev/vulnerability/CVE-2013-5045

---
From sbomify Insights: https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2013-5045/
Summaries are generated and may contain mistakes; the official description above is the record.