CVE-2002-0620 in Commerce Server
Summary
by MITRE
Buffer overflow in the Profile Service of Microsoft Commerce Server 2000 allows remote attackers to cause the server to fail or run arbitrary code in the LocalSystem security context via an input field using an affected API.
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Analysis
by VulDB Data Team • 06/27/2021
The vulnerability identified as CVE-2002-0620 represents a critical buffer overflow flaw within the Profile Service component of Microsoft Commerce Server 2000. This issue resides in the server-side application logic that processes user input through specific API endpoints, creating an exploitable condition that can be leveraged by remote attackers to gain unauthorized control over the affected system. The Profile Service functionality is designed to manage user profiles and associated data within the commerce platform, making it a prime target for malicious actors seeking to compromise the underlying infrastructure. The vulnerability specifically manifests when the system processes input data through an affected API, where insufficient boundary checking allows attackers to overflow allocated memory buffers.
The technical exploitation of this buffer overflow occurs when an attacker submits maliciously crafted input data to an API endpoint that interfaces with the Profile Service. This input field does not properly validate or sanitize the length of incoming data, allowing the attacker to exceed the allocated buffer space and overwrite adjacent memory locations. The overflow can be carefully constructed to overwrite critical program execution elements such as return addresses or function pointers, enabling the attacker to redirect program flow and execute arbitrary code within the LocalSystem security context. This privilege escalation is particularly dangerous as LocalSystem provides the highest level of access rights on the Windows operating system, granting complete control over the affected server.
The operational impact of this vulnerability extends beyond simple service disruption to encompass complete system compromise and potential lateral movement within network environments. When successfully exploited, the vulnerability allows attackers to execute code with the highest possible privileges, enabling them to install backdoors, modify system files, access sensitive data, or establish persistent access to the compromised server. The Profile Service component typically handles user authentication and profile management data, making the compromise of this service particularly concerning as it could lead to credential theft, unauthorized access to customer information, or complete takeover of the commerce platform. Organizations running Microsoft Commerce Server 2000 are particularly vulnerable as this product reached end-of-life years ago, leaving systems without official security updates or patches.
This vulnerability aligns with CWE-121, which describes stack-based buffer overflow conditions, and represents a classic example of improper input validation that violates fundamental security principles. From an attack framework perspective, this vulnerability maps to multiple ATT&CK techniques including T1059 for command and script interpreter and T1068 for exploit for privilege escalation. The attack surface is further expanded by the fact that this vulnerability is remotely exploitable, requiring no local access or authentication to the system. Organizations should consider implementing network segmentation, firewall rules to restrict access to Commerce Server components, and monitoring for unusual API access patterns that might indicate exploitation attempts. The remediation path for this vulnerability is limited to upgrading to supported versions of Microsoft Commerce Server or implementing compensating controls such as network-level filtering and intrusion detection systems to prevent unauthorized access to the vulnerable API endpoints.