Vulnerability Note VU#422156

Overview

Microsoft Exchange fails to handle certain SMTP extended verbs correctly. In Exchange 5.5, this can lead to a denial-of-service condition. In Exchange 2000, this could permit an attacker to run arbitrary code.

Description

Microsoft Exchange is a popular collaboration product which includes extensive support for electronic mail, including support for SMTP. SMTP is a standard protocol for exchanging electronic mail over the internet. Exchange uses SMTP to communicate special handling instructions from one Exchange server to another through the use of SMTP extended verbs. Exchange fails to process some of these commands correctly. On Exchange 5.5, the failure can result in a denial of service condition, and on Exchange 2000, it could result in an attacker running arbitrary code. For more information, see Microsoft Security Bulletin MS03-046.

Impact

An attacked could cause a denial of service condition against Exchange 5.5 or execute arbitrary code against Exchange 2000.

Solution

Apply a patch as described in Microsoft Security Bulletin MS03-046.

Systems Affected (Learn More)

Vendor	Status	Date Notified	Date Updated
Microsoft Corporation	Affected	-	15 Oct 2003

If you are a vendor and your product is affected, let us know.

CVSS Metrics (Learn More)

Group	Score	Vector
Base	N/A	N/A
Temporal	N/A	N/A
Environmental	N/A	N/A

References

• http://www.securityfocus.com/archive/1/341978
• http://www.microsoft.com/technet/security/bulletin/MS03-046.asp
• http://support.microsoft.com/default.aspx?scid=kb;en-us;829436

Credit

Thanks to Microsoft for reporting this vulnerability. Microsoft has credited João Gouveia for reporting this vulnerability.

This document was written by Shawn Hernan based on information contained in Microsoft Security Bulletin MS03-046.

Other Information

• CVE IDs: CAN-2003-0714
• CERT Advisory: CA-2003-27
• Date Public: 15 Oct 2003
• Date First Published: 15 Oct 2003
• Date Last Updated: 22 Oct 2003
• Severity Metric: 40.08
• Document Revision: 5