Allaire Security Bulletin (ASB00-07) - Microsoft has announced a vulnerability for Microsoft IIS which exposes the ability to use a malformed URL to read the source code of ASP, CFML, Perl and other files that are on a server. This is not a problem with ColdFusion Server itself, but it is an issue that can affect ColdFusion users.
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Allaire Security Bulletin (ASB00-07)
Microsoft Internet Information Server Exposure of Source Code with Malformed Hit Highlighting Arguments
Last Revision: April 10, 2000
Summary
Microsoft has announced a vulnerability for Microsoft IIS which exposes the ability to use a malformed URL to read the source
code of ASP, CFML, Perl and other files that are on a server. 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
This issue is clearly explained in the Microsoft Knowledge Base: "The ISAPI filter that implements the hit-highlighting (also known
as "WebHits") functionality does not adequately constrain what files can be requested. If you provide a deliberately-malformed
argument in a request to hit-highlight a document, it is possible to escape the virtual folder. This can allow someone without
permissions to read any file residing on the same logical drive of the server that contains the Web Root folder. It does not allow
anyone without permissions to add or modify files." For example, accessing the URL:
https://www.yoursite.com/null.htw?CiWebHitsFile=/yourfile.asp%20&CiRestriction=none&CiHiliteType=Full
may yield the contents of the file normally available at https://www.yoursite.com/yourfile.asp itself, not the processed results of the
file.
Affected Software Versions
Any ColdFusion Server running on Microsoft Windows NT Server 4.0 or Microsoft Windows 2000
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 are several patches and workarounds available to correct this problem. These are detailed in the following Microsoft
Knowledge base article (Q251170):
https://www.microsoft.com/technet/support/kb.asp?ID=251170
Please note: this issue and patch may not be required for all IIS 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
April 10, 2000 -- Bulletin first released.
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