cbcvebase.
CVE-2003-0226
published 2003-06-09

CVE-2003-0226: Microsoft Internet Information Services (IIS) 5.0 and 5.1 allows remote attackers to cause a denial of service via a long WebDAV request with a (1) PROPFIND or…

PriorityP419medium5CVSS 2.0
AVNACLAuNCNINAP
EXPLOIT
EPSS
40.05%
98.5th percentile
Microsoft Internet Information Services (IIS) 5.0 and 5.1 allows remote attackers to cause a denial of service via a long WebDAV request with a (1) PROPFIND or (2) SEARCH method, which generates an error condition that is not properly handled.

Affected

1 ranges
VendorProductVersion rangeFixed in
microsoftinternet_information_services

Detection & IOCsextracted from sources · hover to see the quote

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bytes
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  • The exploit first probes the target with 'GET / HTTP/1.0' and checks the response for the string 'IIS/5.0' before launching the DoS; alert on this reconnaissance pattern followed immediately by a SEARCH request from the same source.
  • The exploit verifies WebDAV SEARCH is enabled by sending 'SEARCH / HTTP/1.0' and checking for '411 Length Required'; a sequence of SEARCH / HTTP/1.0 followed by a large SEARCH request is a strong attack indicator.
  • The XML body payload sent in the DoS request contains a DAV:displayname scope query; inspect HTTP request bodies for this specific XML structure on SEARCH/PROPFIND methods.
  • If the Inetinfo service stops serving requests without crashing (remains alive but unresponsive), manual restart is required — monitor for IIS worker process becoming unresponsive after receiving an oversized WebDAV request.
  • ·The DoS only affects IIS 5.0 and 5.1 with WebDAV enabled; the exploit explicitly aborts if the server does not respond with 'IIS/5.0' in the banner or does not return '411 Length Required' to a bare SEARCH request, indicating WebDAV is not active.
  • ·IIS will automatically restart after the DoS in most cases, but a specific byte-count payload can leave Inetinfo alive yet non-functional, requiring manual intervention.
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