CVE-2002-2081
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 · uneditedcphost.dll in Microsoft Site Server 3.0 allows remote attackers to cause a denial of service (disk consumption) via an HTTP POST of a file with a long TargetURL parameter, which causes Site Server to abort and leaves the uploaded file in c:\temp.
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 cphost.dll component in Microsoft Site Server 3.0 contains a denial of service vulnerability where an HTTP POST request with a file containing an excessively long TargetURL parameter causes the server to abort. Upon failure, the uploaded file remains in c:\temp instead of being cleaned up, leading to progressive disk consumption.
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= 3.0= 3.0CVSS 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
- 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 checksWork through these to decide whether this CVE applies to you.
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Verify Microsoft Site Server 3.0 installationCheck the installed programs or registry for Microsoft Site Server 3.0 or Microsoft Site Server Commerce 3.0. Look in Add/Remove Programs or the Windows registry under HKLM\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Site Server.Affected if Microsoft Site Server 3.0 or Site Server Commerce 3.0 is installed on the system
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Locate the vulnerable cphost.dll componentSearch for cphost.dll in the Site Server installation directory, typically found under C:\Inetpub\SiteServer or similar paths. Also check system directories if the DLL was registered globally.Affected if cphost.dll exists on the server and the Site Server web services are running
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Inspect c:\temp for accumulated upload filesBrowse the c:\temp directory and look for files that appear to be leftover upload artifacts (often named with random identifiers or containing the TargetURL parameter data). Count and note their total size.Affected if Multiple unprocessed or abandoned files are present in c:\temp, indicating the cleanup failure is occurring
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Check if cphost.dll is network accessibleReview IIS or web server configuration to determine if the cphost.dll ISAPI extension or virtual directory is exposed to network requests. Check for any URL mappings or application mappings that invoke this DLL.Affected if The cphost.dll component is enabled and accessible via HTTP/HTTPS from the network
A system is affected if Microsoft Site Server 3.0 or Site Server Commerce 3.0 is installed with cphost.dll present, the component is network-accessible, and leftover files are accumulating in c:\temp.
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 dataMicrosoft Site Server 3.0 is discontinued; migrate to supported Microsoft SharePoint or web platform solutions. If migration is not immediately feasible, restrict network access to the cphost.dll functionality, monitor c:\temp for accumulating files, and consider removing or renaming cphost.dll to eliminate the attack vector.
- Consultation4.0 h
- Implementation8.0 h
- Testing4.0 h
- Review / QA2.0 h
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Free · runs locallyCheck whether your project pulls in CVE-2002-2081 — 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-2002-2081 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