CVE-2002-0074
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 · uneditedCross-site scripting vulnerability in Help File search facility for Internet Information Server (IIS) 4.0, 5.0 and 5.1 allows remote attackers to embed scripts into another user's session.
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 confidenceCross-site scripting (XSS) vulnerability in the Help File search facility of Microsoft IIS versions 4.0, 5.0, and 5.1 allows remote attackers to inject malicious scripts through unsanitized search input, which then executes in another user's session when they view search results.
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= 4.0= 5.0CVSS 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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Identify installed IIS versionCheck the version of inetinfo.exe in the systemroot\System32 directory (typically C:\Winnt\System32\inetinfo.exe or C:\Windows\System32\inetinfo.exe), or run 'iisreset /status' and check the IIS version reported, or inspect the Windows registry key HKLM\SYSTEM\CurrentControlSet\Services\W3SVC\Parameters\MajorVersionAffected if The version is 4.0, 5.0, or 5.1 (note: 5.1 was also affected per the summary but may show as 5.0 in some registry values)
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Locate IIS Help File search componentCheck if the /iishelp virtual directory exists and is accessible. Inspect the IIS Management Console (inetmgr) or use the command 'cscript adsutil.vbs GET /W3SVC/1/ROOT/iishelp' to enumerate the virtual directory configurationAffected if The iishelp virtual directory exists and is mapped to the filesystem path containing the Help search files (typically Inetpub\Help or similar)
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Verify Help search functionality is enabledCheck if the Help search ASP files (such as iisHelp.asp or search-related files in the help directory) are present and not removed. Inspect the physical directory pointed to by the iishelp virtual directory for files like iisHelp.asp, iisHelp_search.asp, or similar search functionality filesAffected if The Help search ASP files exist and the virtual directory allows script execution (scripts or execute permission enabled)
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Test for unauthenticated access to Help searchFrom a browser or using curl/wget, attempt an HTTP GET request to the help search URL pattern such as http://target/iisHelp/search.asp?qu=<script>alert('test')</script> or the typical iishelp search endpoint to see if it accepts and reflects unsanitized inputAffected if The server returns the reflected script content without encoding or sanitization, demonstrating the XSS vulnerability exists
A system is affected if it runs IIS 4.0 or 5.0 (or 5.1) with the Help File search functionality installed and enabled, and the search endpoint reflects unsanitized user input.
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 security patch MS02-018 or later, or disable the IIS Help File search functionality if not required.
- Consultation2.0 h
- Implementation2.0 h
- Testing1.0 h
- Review / QA1.0 h
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Free · runs locallyCheck whether your project pulls in CVE-2002-0074 — 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-2002-0074 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