COMMAND
IIS
SYSTEMS AFFECTED
Microsoft Internet Information Server 4.0, 5.0
PROBLEM
Following is based on Microsoft Security Bulletin (MS00-057).
This was originally discovered by Burt Abreu and Søren Skov. A
canonicalization error can, under certain conditions, cause IIS
4.0 or 5.0 to apply incorrect permissions to certain types of
files. If an affected file residing in a folder with restrictive
permissions were requested via a particular type of malformed
URL, the permissions actually used would be those of a folder in
the file's parentage chain, but not those of the folder the file
actually resides in. If the ancestor folder's permissions were
more permissive than those of the correct folder, the malicious
user would gain additional privileges to the affected file.
The vulnerability is subject to several significant restrictions:
- It only affects CGI scripts and file types that are implemented
via ISAPI extensions. It does not affect static web page or
non-web file types such as .exe, .doc or .bat
- It only affects servers that expose a web folder structure that
mirrors the physical folder structure on the server.
- It does not allow arbitrary permissions to be selected, only
permissions present on an ancestor folder
- It provides no way to enumerate the server and locate files that
could be affected by the vulnerability.
SOLUTION
Patch availability:
- Microsoft Internet Information Server 4.0: http://www.microsoft.com/Downloads/Release.asp?ReleaseID=23667
- Microsoft Internet Information Server 5.0: http://www.microsoft.com/Downloads/Release.asp?ReleaseID=23665