CVE-2003-0226 in IIS
Summary
by MITRE
Microsoft Internet Information Services (IIS) 5.0 and 5.1 allows remote attackers to cause a denial of service via a long WebDAV request with a (1) PROPFIND or (2) SEARCH method, which generates an error condition that is not properly handled.
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Analysis
by VulDB Data Team • 06/30/2024
Microsoft Internet Information Services versions 5.0 and 5.1 contain a critical vulnerability that enables remote attackers to execute denial of service attacks through carefully crafted WebDAV requests. This vulnerability specifically affects the PROPFIND and SEARCH methods implemented in the WebDAV protocol support within IIS. The flaw manifests when these methods process excessively long requests that trigger error conditions which are not properly managed by the server's exception handling mechanisms. When such malformed requests are received, the IIS server fails to gracefully handle the resulting error states, leading to service disruption and potential system instability.
The technical nature of this vulnerability aligns with CWE-129, which addresses improper handling of insufficient error handling in web applications. The flaw represents a classic buffer overflow condition where the server does not adequately validate or sanitize input parameters within the WebDAV request processing pipeline. When attackers submit requests containing excessive data lengths for PROPFIND or SEARCH operations, the server's internal buffers overflow or become corrupted, causing the service to crash or become unresponsive. This behavior creates a persistent denial of service condition that can be easily exploited without requiring authentication or specialized privileges.
From an operational impact perspective, this vulnerability presents significant risks to organizations relying on IIS 5.0 and 5.1 servers for web hosting or content management services. The attack can be executed remotely over the network, making it particularly dangerous as it requires no physical access to the target system. The vulnerability is classified under the MITRE ATT&CK framework as a Denial of Service technique, specifically falling under the category of "Resource Exhaustion" where the attacker consumes system resources to prevent legitimate service access. Organizations may experience complete service interruption, loss of productivity, and potential revenue loss due to extended downtime periods. The vulnerability affects not only the web server functionality but can also impact underlying system stability and potentially compromise other services running on the same host.
The recommended mitigation strategies include implementing immediate patching procedures through Microsoft's official security updates, which address the improper error handling in the WebDAV protocol implementation. Organizations should also consider network-level protections such as firewall rules that restrict access to WebDAV ports and methods, particularly when these services are not required for business operations. Additionally, implementing intrusion detection systems that can identify and block suspicious WebDAV request patterns provides an additional layer of defense. The vulnerability demonstrates the importance of proper input validation and error handling in web server implementations, as highlighted in industry best practices for secure coding and the OWASP Top Ten security risks. Organizations should also conduct regular security assessments to identify and remediate similar vulnerabilities in their web infrastructure components.