dbcve.org
Windows 2000Operating system · Microsoft

CVE-2002-0018

HIGH · 10.0 CVSS v2.0 Published 2002-03-08
Mitigation only
No fix yet — a mitigation exists. There is no fixed release. A documented workaround reduces exposure in the meantime.
See remediation →
100/100
Remediation priority · Urgent
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
In Microsoft Windows NT and Windows 2000, a trusting domain that receives authorization information from a trusted domain does not verify that the trusted domain is authoritative for all listed SIDs, which allows remote attackers to gain Domain Administrator privileges on the trusting domain by injecting SIDs from untrusted domains into the authorization data that comes from from the trusted domain.

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 confidence

In Windows NT and Windows 2000, domain trust relationships allow a trusting domain to accept authorization data from a trusted domain. The vulnerability exists because the trusting domain does not verify that the trusted domain is authoritative for all Security Identifiers (SIDs) in the received authorization data. Remote attackers can exploit this by injecting SIDs (such as Domain Administrator SIDs) from untrusted domains into the authorization data, allowing them to gain Domain Administrator privileges on the trusting domain.

MitigationApply Microsoft security patch MS02-001 or migrate away from affected legacy Windows NT/2000 systems, as these operating systems are no longer supported. Implement proper SID filtering on trust relationships as an interim control.

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
Windows 2000Operating system
Affected:all versions
Windows NtOperating system
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
Complete
Integrity
Complete
Availability
Complete

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

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 Windows version
    Check if the system is running Windows NT or Windows 2000 by running 'winver' or checking system properties. The system must be one of these two operating systems for the vulnerability to apply.
    Affected if The system is Windows NT or Windows 2000 (any version). If running Windows XP or later, the system is not affected.
  2. Identify domain trust relationships
    Use 'netdom trust' or check Active Directory domains and trusts to enumerate all incoming and outgoing trust relationships configured on the domain controller.
    Affected if The domain has one or more trust relationships established with other domains. If the system is a standalone workgroup machine with no domain trusts, the vulnerability is not exploitable.
  3. Check SID filtering status on trusts
    Inspect the trust relationship configuration using 'netdom trust <trusted_domain> /domain:<trusting_domain> /sid' or review trust properties in Active Directory Users and Computers to determine if SID filtering is enabled.
    Affected if SID filtering is disabled on any active trust relationship. The vulnerability requires an unfiltered trust to inject unauthorized SIDs.
  4. Review security event logs for SID anomalies
    Examine Security event logs on the domain controller, specifically looking for Event ID 517 (audit log cleared) or entries containing SIDs from domains outside the trusted domain list in authentication events.
    Affected if Event logs show authentication attempts with SIDs from untrusted domains or unexpected domain administrators from external domains appearing in the logs.

A system is affected if it runs Windows NT or Windows 2000, has active domain trust relationships, and SID filtering is not enabled on those trusts, allowing potential SID injection from untrusted domains.

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 Microsoft security patch MS02-001 or migrate away from affected legacy Windows NT/2000 systems, as these operating systems are no longer supported. Implement proper SID filtering on trust relationships as an interim control.

Fix this in Windows 2000 Scoped from the published advisory
  • Consultation4.0 h
  • Implementation8.0 h
  • Testing4.0 h
  • Review / QA2.0 h
18.0 hours of engineering $3,200
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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-2002-0018 in production — separate from our analysis above.

No notes yet

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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
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