Microsoft Internet Explorer Help and Support Center Protocol Handler Abuse
Microsoft Internet Explorer on Windows XP comes equipped with a protocol handler for the 'Help and Support Center' application. The protocol handler may be specified in links, and when such a link is submitted by the browser, the Help and Control Center will load an appropriate page. However, it has been demonstrated that this behavior may be abused. The browser runs requests to the HCP URI handler with relaxed Security Zone restrictions. One of the Help and Support Center application files (uplddrvinfo.htm) contains an ActiveX control which may be used to delete local files. Since the ActiveX control accepts filenames from the HCP URIs, it is possible for an attacker to abuse this situation via a malicious link. A number of other files are included in the Help and Support Center application which may also be used by a remote attacker to perform various actions on the client system via a maliciously constructed HCP URI.