dbcve.org
Index ServerApplication · Microsoft

CVE-2001-0245

MEDIUM · 5.0 CVSS v2.0 Published 2001-06-27
Mitigation only
No fix yet — a mitigation exists. There is no fixed release. A documented workaround reduces exposure in the meantime.
See remediation →
59/100
Remediation priority · Elevated
Remotely reachable No privileges Zero-click

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 · unedited
Microsoft Index Server 2.0 in Windows NT 4.0, and Indexing Service in Windows 2000, allows remote attackers to read server-side include files via a malformed search request, aka a new variant of the "Malformed Hit-Highlighting" vulnerability.

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 confidence

Microsoft Index Server 2.0 and Indexing Service contain a vulnerability where remote attackers can read server-side include (SSI) files via malformed search requests. This is a variant of the Malformed Hit-Highlighting vulnerability, allowing unauthorized disclosure of potentially sensitive SSI content.

MitigationApply available Microsoft patches for this vulnerability, or disable Indexing Service if not required. Implement network-level access controls to restrict query access to trusted sources only.

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
Index ServerApplication
Affected:= 2.0
Indexing ServiceApplication
Affected:all versions

CVSS 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
None
Availability
None

AV:N/AC:L/Au:N/C:P/I:N/A:N

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 checks

Work through these to decide whether this CVE applies to you.

  1. Verify if Indexing Service or Index Server is installed
    Open Services console (services.msc) and look for 'Indexing Service' or check for the presence of C:\Program Files\Indexing Service folder, or run 'reg query "HKLM\SYSTEM\CurrentControlSet\Services\ISearch"'
    Affected if The Indexing Service or Index Server service exists on the system
  2. Confirm IIS is installed and running
    Check for the existence of IIS via Internet Information Services (IIS) Manager or by attempting to access http://localhost. Also check the World Wide Web Publishing Service is running.
    Affected if IIS is installed and the WWW service is active, providing the web interface through which the malformed requests could be sent
  3. Check for .idq and .ida ISAPI mappings
    Open IIS Manager, right-click the default website or relevant website, select Properties, click Home Directory tab, click Configuration, and examine the Application Mappings for .idq and .ida extensions pointing to idq.dll
    Affected if The .idq or .ida script mappings are present and enabled, allowing the vulnerable query mechanism to be invoked
  4. Identify the exact version of Index Server
    If Index Server 2.0 is installed, check the version of the idq.dll file in C:\Winnt\System32 or C:\Windows\System32, or check Add/Remove Programs for Microsoft Index Server 2.0
    Affected if Index Server version 2.0 is installed, or any version of Indexing Service is present (all versions are affected)
  5. Verify query endpoint is accessible over the network
    Attempt to access http://<server>/*.idq or http://<server>/*.ida from a non-localhost address, or review IIS logs for requests to these extensions
    Affected if The .idq/.ida endpoints are reachable from network clients, creating the attack vector for remote exploitation

A system is affected if Indexing Service or Index Server is installed, IIS is running with .idq/.ida script mappings enabled, and the query endpoints are network-accessible, allowing remote attackers to send malformed search requests to read SSI files.

Generated from the published advisory. Verify against your own configuration.

Check your environment

Paste your version and any relevant configuration and it will be compared against the affected criteria above. Do not include secrets or credentials.

AI-assisted, checked against the advisory. Informational, not a guarantee.

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 data
Mitigation available No clean upgrade yet — mitigate in the meantime
Mitigation

Apply available Microsoft patches for this vulnerability, or disable Indexing Service if not required. Implement network-level access controls to restrict query access to trusted sources only.

Fix this in Index Server Scoped from the published advisory
  • Consultation2.0 h
  • Implementation2.0 h
  • Testing2.0 h
  • Review / QA1.0 h
7.0 hours of engineering $1,240
Get help mitigating

An estimate, not a bill — we confirm scope with you before any work starts. Need it this week? Rush from $1,984.

Scan for this in your stack

Free · runs locally
dbcve dependency scanner

Check whether your project pulls in CVE-2001-0245 — or any other known-vulnerable package — straight from your lock files. Free and open source; it runs locally and uploads nothing.

Get it on GitHub Scan in the browser

References Go to the primary sourcePrimary sources — vendor advisories, patches and trackers. Where our summary and a reference disagree, the reference wins.

Primary sources

Practitioner notes

Contributed

Peer-ranked notes from engineers who’ve handled CVE-2001-0245 in production — separate from our analysis above.

No notes yet

Be the first to add a field note for this CVE — a mitigation you’ve verified, a version caveat, or a link to a working fix. Sign in above to contribute.

What this is

A place for practitioners to share what actually worked: a mitigation you’ve tested, a configuration change, a version- or environment-specific caveat, or a link to a verified patch. The most useful notes rise to the top as peers upvote them, so the signal stays high.

What belongs here
  • 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