XADM: The Exchange 2000 System Attendant Incorrectly Sets Remote Registry Permissions

A vulnerability exists in Microsoft Exchange 2000 Server that may allow unprivileged users to remotely access configuration information on an Exchange 2000 server. In the worst case, an attacker might use this vulnerability to change configuration settings on the server. This vulnerability is subject to several mitigating factors:

• The vulnerability only provides an attacker with the ability to access the configuration. The permissions on the specific configuration values determine whether or not the attacker can take any action on them.
• If you follow typical firewalling practices, attackers on the Internet are prevented from exploiting this vulnerability.

This vulnerability exists because the Exchange 2000 system attendant incorrectly adds the Everyone group to the security permissions of the following key in the registry:

To resolve this problem, obtain the latest service pack for Microsoft Exchange 2000 Server. For additional information, click the following article number to view the article in the Microsoft Knowledge Base: For additional information about the problems that this patch fixes, click the article number below to view the article in the Microsoft Knowledge Base: The following files are available for download from the Microsoft Download Center:
Release Date: February 1, 2002

For additional information about how to download Microsoft Support files, click the following article number to view the article in the Microsoft Knowledge Base: Microsoft scanned this file for viruses. Microsoft used the most current virus-detection software that was available on the date that the file was posted. The file is stored on security-enhanced servers that help to prevent any unauthorized changes to the file. The English version of this fix should have the following file attributes or later:

Component: Admin


NOTE: Because of file dependencies, this update requires Microsoft Exchange 2000 Server Service Pack 2.

Microsoft has confirmed that this problem may cause a degree of security vulnerability in Microsoft Exchange 2000 Server. This problem was first corrected in Microsoft Exchange 2000 Server Service Pack 3.

For additional information about this vulnerability, see the following Microsoft Web site: