Microsoft Windows NT 4.0 File Management denial of service

CVSS Meta Temp Score
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CTI Interest Score
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5.3$0-$5k0.00

Summaryinfo

A vulnerability labeled as problematic has been found in Microsoft Windows NT 4.0. Impacted is an unknown function of the component File Management. The manipulation results in denial of service. This vulnerability is reported as CVE-2003-0525. The attack requires a local approach. No exploit exists. Applying a patch is advised to resolve this issue.

Detailsinfo

A vulnerability, which was classified as problematic, was found in Microsoft Windows NT 4.0 (Operating System). Affected is an unknown part of the component File Management. The manipulation with an unknown input leads to a denial of service vulnerability. CWE is classifying the issue as CWE-404. The product does not release or incorrectly releases a resource before it is made available for re-use. This is going to have an impact on availability. CVE summarizes:

The getCanonicalPath function in Windows NT 4.0 may free memory that it does not own and cause heap corruption, which allows attackers to cause a denial of service (crash) via requests that cause a long file name to be passed to getCanonicalPath, as demonstrated on the IBM JVM using a long string to the java.io.getCanonicalPath Java method.

The weakness was disclosed 07/24/2003 by Jeremy Rauch with @stake as MS03-029 as confirmed bulletin (Technet). The advisory is shared for download at microsoft.com. This vulnerability is traded as CVE-2003-0525. The attack needs to be approached locally. A authentication is necessary for exploitation. There are neither technical details nor an exploit publicly available.

The vulnerability scanner Nessus provides a plugin with the ID 11802 (MS03-029: Flaw in Windows Function may allow DoS (823803)), which helps to determine the existence of the flaw in a target environment. It is assigned to the family Windows : Microsoft Bulletins. The commercial vulnerability scanner Qualys is able to test this issue with plugin 90207 (Flaw in Windows Function Could Allow Denial of Service (MS03-029)).

Applying the patch MS03-029 is able to eliminate this problem. The bugfix is ready for download at microsoft.com.

The vulnerability is also documented in the databases at X-Force (12701), Tenable (11802), SecurityFocus (BID 8259†), Secunia (SA9337†) and Vulnerability Center (SBV-1882†). The entry VDB-193 is pretty similar. VulDB is the best source for vulnerability data and more expert information about this specific topic.

Productinfo

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CPE 2.3info

CPE 2.2info

CVSSv4info

VulDB Vector: 🔍
VulDB Reliability: 🔍

CVSSv3info

VulDB Meta Base Score: 5.5
VulDB Meta Temp Score: 5.3

VulDB Base Score: 5.5
VulDB Temp Score: 5.3
VulDB Vector: 🔍
VulDB Reliability: 🔍

CVSSv2info

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VulDB Base Score: 🔍
VulDB Temp Score: 🔍
VulDB Reliability: 🔍

NVD Base Score: 🔍

Exploitinginfo

Class: Denial of service
CWE: CWE-404
CAPEC: 🔍
ATT&CK: 🔍

Physical: Partially
Local: Yes
Remote: Yes

Availability: 🔍
Status: Not defined

EPSS Score: 🔍
EPSS Percentile: 🔍

Price Prediction: 🔍
Current Price Estimation: 🔍

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Nessus ID: 11802
Nessus Name: MS03-029: Flaw in Windows Function may allow DoS (823803)
Nessus File: 🔍
Nessus Risk: 🔍
Nessus Family: 🔍

Qualys ID: 🔍
Qualys Name: 🔍

Threat Intelligenceinfo

Interest: 🔍
Active Actors: 🔍
Active APT Groups: 🔍

Countermeasuresinfo

Recommended: Patch
Status: 🔍

0-Day Time: 🔍

Patch: MS03-029

Timelineinfo

01/01/2003 🔍
07/08/2003 +187 days 🔍
07/23/2003 +15 days 🔍
07/24/2003 +1 days 🔍
07/28/2003 +4 days 🔍
08/27/2003 +30 days 🔍
09/02/2003 +6 days 🔍
08/12/2025 +8015 days 🔍

Sourcesinfo

Vendor: microsoft.com
Product: microsoft.com

Advisory: MS03-029
Researcher: Jeremy Rauch
Organization: @stake
Status: Confirmed

CVE: CVE-2003-0525 (🔍)
GCVE (CVE): GCVE-0-2003-0525
GCVE (VulDB): GCVE-100-192

OVAL: 🔍

X-Force: 12701
SecurityFocus: 8259
Secunia: 9337 - Microsoft Windows NT Denial of Service, Not Critical
Vulnerability Center: 1882 - [MS03-029] Windows NT File Management Function DoS via Application Requests Without User Input Valid, Low

See also: 🔍

Entryinfo

Created: 07/28/2003 11:07
Updated: 08/12/2025 10:57
Changes: 07/28/2003 11:07 (78), 04/07/2017 16:01 (1), 03/08/2021 15:04 (2), 03/08/2021 15:06 (1), 08/12/2025 10:57 (16)
Complete: 🔍
Cache ID: 216:1E8:103

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