Exchange ServerApplication · Microsoft

CVE-2002-1873

MEDIUM · 5.0 CVSS v2.0 Published 2002-12-31
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 Exchange 2000, when used with Microsoft Remote Procedure Call (MSRPC), allows remote attackers to cause a denial of service (crash or memory consumption) via malformed MSRPC calls.

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 Exchange 2000 with MSRPC accepts malformed MSRPC calls from remote attackers, causing the service to crash or consume excessive memory, resulting in denial of service.

MitigationApply available Microsoft patches for Exchange 2000, or filter/block MSRPC traffic at network perimeter if patching is not feasible. Consider upgrading from Exchange 2000 as it is legacy software.

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
Exchange ServerApplication
Affected:= 2000

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
None
Integrity
None
Availability
Partial

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

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

  1. Verify Exchange Server 2000 is installed
    Check the Windows services list for 'Microsoft Exchange' services (e.g., MSExchangeIS, MSExchangeSA) or check the installation directory at C:\Exchsrvr for Exchange 2000 specific folders. Run 'reg query HKLM\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Exchange' to query the Exchange installation key.
    Affected if The system shows Exchange Server 2000 installed (version 6.0.x) and the MSExchange services exist.
  2. Confirm the exact Exchange version
    Check the version of the installed Exchange binaries. Look at the file properties of C:\Exchsrvr\bin\store.exe or run 'exps -s' from the Exchange bin directory to display version information.
    Affected if The version reports exactly 6.0.x (Exchange 2000).
  3. Check if MSRPC-related services are running
    Open Services console and verify the following services are running: Remote Procedure Call (RPC), Remote Procedure Call (RPC) Locator, and Exchange services that expose MSRPC endpoints (particularly the Information Store and System Attendant).
    Affected if The RPC service and Exchange services (MSExchangeIS, MSExchangeSA) are running and the system accepts RPC connections.
  4. Determine MSRPC network exposure
    Use 'netstat -an' to check if Exchange-related MSRPC endpoints are listening on network interfaces (ports 135, 1025-1027, or dynamic RPC ports). Check firewall rules to see if these ports are accessible from untrusted networks.
    Affected if MSRPC ports (135, 1025+, dynamic) are open and listening on external or untrusted network adapters.
  5. Verify MSRPC is enabled in Exchange configuration
    Check the Exchange System Manager (if available) or registry under HKLM\SYSTEM\CurrentControlSet\Services\MSExchange** for RPC configuration settings. Confirm the RPC/HTTP configuration allows MSRPC calls.
    Affected if MSRPC endpoints are enabled and the Exchange virtual servers are configured to accept RPC connections.

The environment is affected if Exchange Server 2000 (version 6.0.x) is installed and running with MSRPC services enabled and exposed to network traffic.

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 Exchange 2000, or filter/block MSRPC traffic at network perimeter if patching is not feasible. Consider upgrading from Exchange 2000 as it is legacy software.

Fix this in Exchange Server Scoped from the published advisory
  • Consultation4.0 h
  • Implementation4.0 h
  • Testing3.0 h
  • Review / QA2.0 h
13.0 hours of engineering $2,330
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Scan for this in your stack

Free · runs locally
dbcve dependency scanner

Check whether your project pulls in CVE-2002-1873 — 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 sources

Practitioner notes

Contributed

Peer-ranked notes from engineers who’ve handled CVE-2002-1873 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
  • No weaponised exploit code, or anything meant to cause harm
  • No spam, self-promotion, credentials, or personal data