CVE-2006-6617
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 · uneditedprojectserver/logon/pdsrequest.asp in Microsoft Project Server 2003 allows remote authenticated users to obtain the MSProjectUser password for a SQL database via a GetInitializationData request, which includes the information in the UserName and Password tags of the response.
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 confidenceMicrosoft Project Server 2003 contains an information disclosure vulnerability in projectserver/logon/pdsrequest.asp. Authenticated users can send a GetInitializationData request to this ASP page and receive the MSProjectUser database credentials (username and password) in cleartext within the XML response's UserName and Password tags.
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= 2003CVSS 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
- Single
- Confidentiality
- Partial
- Integrity
- Partial
- Availability
- Partial
AV:N/AC:L/Au:S/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 if Microsoft Project Server is installedCheck for the presence of Microsoft Project Server by looking for the installation directory (typically under C:\Program Files\Microsoft Office Servers\) or check Add/Remove Programs for Microsoft Project Server entries.Affected if Microsoft Project Server 2003 is installed on the system.
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Determine the exact version of Microsoft Project ServerCheck the version of the installed Microsoft Project Server. Look in the registry under HKLM\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Office\11.0\MS Project\Settings or examine the pdsrequest.asp file properties in the projectserver/logon/ directory.Affected if The version is Microsoft Project Server 2003 (11.x).
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Verify the vulnerable endpoint existsLocate the file pdsrequest.asp in the projectserver/logon/ directory on the web server. This file is the vulnerable component that handles GetInitializationData requests.Affected if The file projectserver/logon/pdsrequest.asp exists on the server.
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Check if authentication is required for the vulnerable endpointExamine whether the pdsrequest.asp page enforces proper authentication. The vulnerability requires an authenticated session but can be exploited by any valid user with access to the application.Affected if Any authenticated user account can access the Project Server web interface.
The environment is affected if Microsoft Project Server 2003 is installed and the vulnerable pdsrequest.asp file exists in the projectserver/logon/ directory, allowing any authenticated user to retrieve database credentials via the GetInitializationData request.
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 dataUpgrade from Microsoft Project Server 2003 (end-of-life) to a supported version, or implement compensating controls such as network segmentation, Web Application Firewall rules to block the vulnerable endpoint, and enforcing least-privilege database accounts.
- 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-2006-6617 — 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-2006-6617 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