Vulnerability of Critual Update
How would I tell if I was actually being attacked by this critical update?? Is there a way to know that the vulnerability is being hit?
http://www.microsoft.com/technet/treeview/default.asp?url=/technet/security/bulletin/excoct03.asp
http://www.microsoft.com/technet/treeview/default.asp?url=/technet/security/bulletin/excoct03.asp
ASKER
So the only way that I could be attacked with this is by connecting to the port? So I would know if I was being attacked by if the user is using the SMTP port? Say like telneting
Yes, that would be the most likely approach... though you can script telnet sessions.
ASKER
Our mail server has slowed down in the past few days. We noticed that this critical update didn't get installed properly. We want to make sure that this vunerability isn't the cause of it. How could you tell this? I guess that is what I am trying to find out. How can I rule out this vunerability. ?
ASKER CERTIFIED SOLUTION
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ASKER
what is perfmon??
Performance Monitor
046 shuts down your IMC. 047 allows code execution. If your IMC isnt shutting down then you don't have a 046 problem. If you having performance problems, you can run perfmon to see what applications are using your resources. Task manager might be suggested for CPU utilization, but perfmon gives you a better view into most resources.
You first need to find out what you are having performance problems. Once you find that out, you'll know if you have been compromised.
OneHump
You first need to find out what you are having performance problems. Once you find that out, you'll know if you have been compromised.
OneHump
Could not really understand your question, you mean, how you find out, if somebody has attacked your server using this vulnerability? Following the description, it is a "denial of service" attack or force a "buffer overrun" , means, as long as your server is still working and your memory is in a usual range, everything seems to be OK.
As this issue is a potential risk as remote code execution is possible if a buffer overrun state is reached, you should install it.
As this issue is a potential risk as remote code execution is possible if a buffer overrun state is reached, you should install it.
What would this vulnerability enable an attacker to do?
The vulnerability could allow an unauthenticated attacker to exhaust large amounts of memory on the server. This could cause a state where the server would stop responding to requests. In Exchange 2000 Server, the attacker could also, in the worst case, be able to cause remote code execution.
How could an attacker exploit this vulnerability?
An unauthenticated attacker could seek to exploit this vulnerability by connecting to an SMTP port on the Exchange server and by issuing a specially-crafted extended verb request. These requests can allocate memory on the server and can cause a denial of service. In Exchange 2000 Server, it is also possible to craft the request causing the SMTP service to fail in such a way that an attacker could execute code. This could allow an attacker to take any action on the system in the security context of the SMTP service. By default, the SMTP service runs as Local System.
Can this be exploited directly by using e-mail?
No. This vulnerability could not be exploited by sending a specially-crafted e-mail message to a mailbox that is hosted on an Exchange server. An attacker would have to connect directly to the SMTP port on an Exchange server.