Allaire Security Bulletin (ASB00-13) - Microsoft has released a patch for two security vulnerabilities in Microsoft(r) Internet Information Server. The vulnerabilities could, respectively, be used to slow an affected web server's response or to obtain the source code of certain types of files under very restricted conditions. This is not a problem with ColdFusion Server itself, but it is an issue that can affect ColdFusion users. Allaire recommends that customers follow the instructions posted on the Microsoft Web site to address this issue.
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Allaire Security Bulletin (ASB00-13)
Microsoft (MS00-031): Patch Available for "Undelimited .HTR Request" and "File
Fragment Reading via .HTR" Vulnerabilities
Originally Posted: May 22, 2000
Last Updated: May 22, 2000
Summary
Microsoft has released a patch that eliminates two security vulnerabilities in Microsoft(r)
Internet Information Server. The vulnerabilities could, respectively, be used to slow an affected
web server's response or to obtain the source code of certain types of files under very
restricted conditions. This is not a problem with ColdFusion Server itself, but it is an issue that
can affect ColdFusion users. Allaire recommends that customers follow the instructions posted
on the Microsoft Web site to address this issue.
Issue
These issues are clearly explained in the Microsoft Security Bulletin: "The 'Undelimited .HTR
Request' vulnerability is a denial of service vulnerability. If a malicious user provided a password
change request that was missing an expected delimiter, the algorithm would conduct an
unbounded search. This would prevent it from servicing additional .HTR requests, and could
also slow the overall response of the server."
And: "The '.HTR File Fragment Reading' vulnerability could allow fragments of certain types of
files to be read by providing a malformed request that would cause the .HTR processing to be
applied to them. However, the vulnerability could only be exploited under extremely restrictive
conditions, and the most valuable data in the files would be the least likely to actually appear in
the fragments sent to the user."
Further: "Neither of these vulnerabilities would allow data to be added, deleted or changed on
the server, nor would they allow any administrative control on the server to be usurped.
Although .HTR files are used to allow web-based password administration, neither of these
vulnerabilities involve[sic.] any weakness in password handling. Also, if security best practices
have been followed, and unneeded script mappings have been removed, many customers will
have removed the .HTR script mapping and thus be unaffected by either vulnerability."
Affected Software Versions
Internet Information Server 4.0
Internet Information Server 5.0
What Allaire is Doing
This is not an Allaire product. We are recommending that customers reference the information
at Microsoft's site to address this issue.
What Customers Should Do
There is a patch available to correct this problem. It is detailed in the following Microsoft
Security Bulletin (MS00-031):
http://www.microsoft.com/technet/security/bulletin/ms00-031.asp
Please note: this issue and patch may not be required for all users. Allaire customers
should review all material in the Microsoft Security Bulletin and related documents
carefully before applying the patch. As always, customers should test patch changes in
a testing environment before modifying production servers.
Revisions
May 22, 2000 -- Bulletin first created.
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