CVE-2002-0642
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 · uneditedThe registry key containing the SQL Server service account information in Microsoft SQL Server 2000, including Microsoft SQL Server Desktop Engine (MSDE) 2000, has insecure permissions, which allows local users to gain privileges, aka "Incorrect Permission on SQL Server Service Account Registry Key."
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 confidenceThe registry key containing SQL Server service account information in SQL Server 2000 and MSDE 2000 has insecure permissions, allowing local users to read or modify the service account configuration and potentially escalate privileges to SYSTEM level.
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= 2000= 2000CVSS 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
- Local
- Complexity
- Low
- Authentication
- None
- Confidentiality
- Complete
- Integrity
- Complete
- Availability
- Complete
AV:L/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 checksWork through these to decide whether this CVE applies to you.
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Verify SQL Server 2000 or MSDE 2000 is installedCheck for the presence of the registry key HKLM\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Microsoft SQL Server\, or look for SQL Server 2000 or MSDE 2000 in Add/Remove Programs, or check for the existence of the SQL Server service (MSSQLSERVER) in services.mscAffected if SQL Server 2000 or MSDE 2000 is installed on the system
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Locate the vulnerable registry keyOpen regedit and navigate to HKLM\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Microsoft SQL Server\, then check for subkeys like \SETUP\ or the instance-specific keys under the \Instance Names\ or \MSSQLServer\ pathsAffected if The registry key exists on the system
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Examine registry key permissionsRight-click on the registry key HKLM\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Microsoft SQL Server\, select Permissions, and review the Access Control List (ACL) to see which users and groups have Read and Full Control permissionsAffected if Users other than Administrators and SYSTEM have Read or Full Control permissions granted on this key
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Verify non-admin user accessUsing icacls or regini from a non-administrator account context, attempt to read or modify the registry key HKLM\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Microsoft SQL Server\ to confirm if lower-privileged users can access itAffected if A standard user or limited account can successfully read or write to the registry key
If SQL Server 2000 or MSDE 2000 is installed and non-privileged users (beyond Administrators and SYSTEM) have Read or Modify permissions on the registry key under HKLM\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Microsoft SQL Server\, the system is affected by this vulnerability.
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 dataRestrict permissions on the affected registry keys (under HKLM\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Microsoft SQL Server\) to grant only Administrators and SYSTEM full control, removing access for lower-privileged users.
- Consultation2.0 h
- Implementation4.0 h
- Testing2.0 h
- Review / QA1.0 h
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Scan for this in your stack
Free · runs locallyCheck whether your project pulls in CVE-2002-0642 — 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-2002-0642 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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