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HistoryOct 31, 2002 - 12:00 a.m.

Microsoft Security Bulletin MS02-062: Cumulative Patch for Internet Information Service (Q327696)

2002-10-3100:00:00
vulners.com
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Title: Cumulative Patch for Internet Information Service
(Q327696)
Date: 30 October 2002
Software: Internet Information Service
Impact: Four vulnerabilities, the most serious of which
could enable applications on a server to gain
system-level privileges.
Max Risk: Moderate
Bulletin: MS02-062

Microsoft encourages customers to review the Security Bulletin at:
http://www.microsoft.com/technet/security/bulletin/MS02-062.asp.


Issue:

This patch is a cumulative patch that includes the functionality of
all security patches released for IIS 4.0 since Windows
NT 4.0 Service Pack 6a, and all security patches released to date for
IIS 5.0 and 5.1. A complete listing of the patches
superseded by this patch is provided below, in the section titled
"Additional information about this patch". Before applying
the patch, system administrators should take note of the caveats
discussed in the same section.

In addition to including previously released security patches, this
patch also includes fixes for the following newly
discovered security vulnerabilities affecting IIS 4.0, 5.0 and/or
5.1:

  • A privilege elevation vulnerability affecting the way ISAPIs
    are launched when an IIS 4.0, 5.0 or 5.1 server is configured
    to run them out of process. By design, the hosting process
    (dllhost.exe) should run only in the security context of the
    IWAM_computername account; however, it can actually be made to
    acquire LocalSystem privileges under certain circumstances,
    thereby enabling an ISAPI to do likewise.
  • A denial of service vulnerability that results because of a flaw
    in the way IIS 5.0 and 5.1 allocate memory for WebDAV requests.
    If a WebDAV request were malformed in a particular way, IIS would
    allocate an extremely large amount of memory on the server. By
    sending several such requests, an attacker could cause the server
    to fail.
  • A vulnerability involving the operation of the script source
    access permission in IIS 5.0. This permission operates in
    addition to the normal read/write permissions for a virtual
    directory, and regulates whether scripts, .ASP files and
    executable file types can be uploaded to a write-enabled virtual
    directory. A typographical error in the table that defines the
    file types subject to this permission has the effect of omitting
    .COM files from the list of files subject to the permission. As a
    result, a user would need only write access to upload such a file.
  • A pair of Cross-Site Scripting (CSS) vulnerabilities affecting
    IIS 4.0, 5.0 and 5.1, and involving administrative web page. Each
    of these vulnerabilities have the same scope and effect: an
    attacker who was able to lure a user into clicking a link on his
    web site could relay a request containing script to a third-party
    web site running IIS, thereby causing the third-party site's
    response (still including the script) to be sent to the user.
    The script would then render using the security settings of
    the third-party site rather than the attacker's.

In addition, the patch causes 5.0 and 5.1 to change how frequently
the socket backlog list - which, when all connections on a
server are allocated, holds the list of pending connection requests -
is purged. The patch changes IIS to purge the list more
frequently in order to make it more resilient to flooding attacks.
The backlog monitoring feature is not present in IIS 4.0.

Mitigating Factors:

Out of Process Privilege Elevation:

  • This vulnerability could only be exploited by an attacker
    who already had the ability to load and execute applications
    on an affected web server. Normal security practices recommend
    that untrusted users not be allowed to load applications onto
    a server, and that even trusted users' applications be
    scrutinized before allowing them to be loaded.

WebDAV Denial of Service:

  • The vulnerability does not affect IIS 4.0, as WebDAV is not
    supported in this version of IIS.
  • The vulnerability could only be exploited if the server allowed
    WebDAV requests to be levied on it. The IIS Lockdown Tool

(http://www.microsoft.com/technet/security/tools/tools/locktool.asp),
if deployed in its default configuration, disables such requests.

Script Source Access Vulnerability:

  • The vulnerability could only be exploited if the administrator
    had granted all users write and execute permissions to one or
    more virtual directories on the server. Default configurations of
    IIS would be at no risk from this vulnerability.
  • The vulnerability does not affect IIS 4.0, as WebDAV is not
    supported in this version of IIS.
  • The vulnerability could only be exploited if the server allowed
    WebDAV requests to be levied on it. The IIS Lockdown Tool, if
    deployed in its default configuration, disables such requests.

Cross-site Scripting in IIS Administrative Pages:

  • The vulnerabilities could only be exploited if the attacker
    could entice another user into visiting a web page and clicking
    a link on it, or opening an HTML mail.
  • By default, the pages containing the vulnerability are restricted
    to local IP address. As a result, the vulnerability could only
    be exploited if the client itself were running IIS.

Aggregate Risk Rating:

  • Internet systems: Moderate
  • Intranet systems: Moderate
  • Client systems: Low

Patch Availability:

Acknowledgment:

  • Li0n of A3 Security Consulting Co., Ltd. (http://www.a3sc.co.kr)
    for reporting the Out of process privilege elevation
    vulnerability.
  • Mark Litchfield of Next Generation Security Software Ltd.
    (http://www.nextgenss.com) for reporting the WebDAV denial
    of service vulnerability.
  • Luciano Martins of Deloitte & Touche Argentina
    (http://www.deloitte.com.ar) for recommending the change in the
    socket backlog list purge rate.

THE INFORMATION PROVIDED IN THE MICROSOFT KNOWLEDGE BASE IS
PROVIDED "AS IS" WITHOUT WARRANTY OF ANY KIND. MICROSOFT DISCLAIMS
ALL WARRANTIES, EITHER EXPRESS OR IMPLIED, INCLUDING THE
WARRANTIES OF MERCHANTABILITY AND FITNESS FOR A PARTICULAR PURPOSE.
IN NO EVENT SHALL MICROSOFT CORPORATION OR ITS SUPPLIERS
BE LIABLE FOR ANY DAMAGES WHATSOEVER INCLUDING DIRECT, INDIRECT,
INCIDENTAL, CONSEQUENTIAL, LOSS OF BUSINESS PROFITS OR
SPECIAL DAMAGES, EVEN IF MICROSOFT CORPORATION OR ITS SUPPLIERS HAVE
BEEN ADVISED OF THE POSSIBILITY OF SUCH DAMAGES. SOME
STATES DO NOT ALLOW THE EXCLUSION OR LIMITATION OF LIABILITY FOR
CONSEQUENTIAL OR INCIDENTAL DAMAGES SO THE FOREGOING
LIMITATION MAY NOT APPLY.

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