CVE-2000-0053
Official description Straight from the sourceThe vendor's or NVD's own wording, published unedited. Authoritative, but often terse — it says what broke, rarely what to do.
NVD · uneditedMicrosoft Commercial Internet System (MCIS) IMAP server allows remote attackers to cause a denial of service via a malformed IMAP request.
Technical summary Written by usOur analysis, written from the advisory, the CVSS vector and the affected-version data. It adds context the advisory leaves out, and never invents facts that are not in the source.
dbcve analysis · moderate confidenceThe Microsoft Commercial Internet System (MCIS) IMAP server contains a vulnerability that allows remote attackers to cause a denial of service by sending a malformed IMAP request. The vulnerability has a CVSS score of 7.5 (HIGH), indicating significant impact on availability.
Verify against the referenced sources before acting — the references below are authoritative for this CVE, this summary is not.
Affected products & versions What the vendor confirmedThe version ranges the vendor confirmed as vulnerable. If your version sits inside a range here, treat yourself as exposed until you have upgraded.
NVD · CPE data= 2.0= 2.5CVSS breakdown How the score is builtThe industry scoring standard. It rates how the flaw is reached, what it takes to exploit, and what an attacker gains — the score is derived from those, not the other way round.
From the vector- Attack vector
- Network
- Complexity
- Low
- Authentication
- None
- Confidentiality
- Partial
- Integrity
- Partial
- Availability
- Partial
AV:N/AC:L/Au:N/C:P/I:P/A:P
Am I affected? How to checkSteps we derive from the advisory and the affected-version data, so you can decide whether this CVE reaches your setup. They are a guide, not a scan — your own configuration is the authority.
dbcve checksWork through these to decide whether this CVE applies to you.
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Verify MCIS IMAP service is presentCheck for running processes or services named 'IMAP' or 'MSCS IMAP' using Task Manager (Processes tab), net start command, or reviewing installed programs. Look for 'Microsoft Commercial Internet System' or 'MCIS' in installed software.Affected if The MCIS IMAP service is installed and running on the system
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Identify MCIS versionCheck the installed version of Microsoft Commercial Internet System via Windows Add/Remove Programs, the program's Properties dialog, or check registry keys under HKLM\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\MCISAffected if The installed version is 2.0 or 2.5 (exact match to affected versions)
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Confirm IMAP service is listeningUse netstat -an or PortQry.exe to check if TCP port 143 (default IMAP) is in LISTENING state on the serverAffected if Port 143 (or configured IMAP port) is open and listening, exposing the service to network requests
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Check IMAP service configurationReview MCIS configuration files (typically in the MCIS installation directory, often under C:\MCIS or C:\Program Files\Microsoft MCIS) for IMAP service settings in configuration files like imap.cfg or through MCIS Administration tools.Affected if IMAP service is enabled and configured in MCIS
A system is affected if it is running Microsoft Commercial Internet System version 2.0 or 2.5 with the IMAP service enabled and listening for connections.
Generated from the published advisory. Verify against your own configuration.
Remediation Closing itWhat it takes to close this. Where a vendor fix exists we point at it; where none exists we say so plainly, and can build one. Effort estimates are scoped from the advisory, not from your codebase.
From vendor dataSince MCIS is an end-of-life legacy product, the primary mitigation is to disable or remove the IMAP service if no longer needed. If the service must remain operational, implement network-level filtering to restrict access to trusted sources, or migrate to a supported IMAP server solution.
- Consultation4.0 h
- Implementation8.0 h
- Testing4.0 h
- Review / QA2.0 h
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Scan for this in your stack
Free · runs locallyCheck whether your project pulls in CVE-2000-0053 — or any other known-vulnerable package — straight from your lock files. Free and open source; it runs locally and uploads nothing.
References Go to the primary sourcePrimary sources — vendor advisories, patches and trackers. Where our summary and a reference disagree, the reference wins.
Primary sourcesPractitioner notes
ContributedPeer-ranked notes from engineers who’ve handled CVE-2000-0053 in production — separate from our analysis above.
The advisory tells you what broke. It rarely tells you what actually worked. If you’ve dealt with this one, that detail is what the next engineer is searching for.
- The version that genuinely resolved it — not the one the vendor claimed
- A config change or rule that shut the vector down
- A gotcha in the upgrade path that cost you an afternoon
No notes yet
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- Verified mitigations, workarounds, and config changes
- Version or environment caveats, and links to real fixes
- No weaponised exploit code, or anything meant to cause harm
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