Microsoft Locator service contains buffer overflow

Overview

A remotely exploitable buffer overflow exists in the Microsoft Locator service. This vulnerability may allow a remote attacker to execute arbitrary code on a vulnerable system.

Description

The Microsoft Locator service “maps logical names to network-specific names”. Quoting from MS03-001:

The Microsoft Locator service is a name service that maps logical names to network-specific names. It ships with Windows NT 4.0, Windows 2000, and Windows XP. By default, the Locator service is enabled only on Windows 2000 domain controllers and Windows NT 4.0 domain controllers; it is not enabled on Windows NT 4.0 workstations or member servers, Windows 2000 workstations or member servers, or Windows XP.
By sending an overly large request to the Locator service, a remote attacker may be able to execute arbitrary code on a vulnerable system.

The Locator service is enabled by default on Windows 2000 domain controllers and Windows NT 4.0 domain controllers.

The Locator service is not enabled by default on the following platforms:

* Windows NT 4.0 (Workstations and Member Servers)
* Windows 2000 (Workstations and Member Servers)
* Windows XP  

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Impact

A remote attacker may be able to execute arbitrary code on a vulnerable system.

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Solution

Apply a patch.

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Vendor Information

610986

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Microsoft Corporation __ Affected

Updated: January 23, 2003

Status

Affected

Vendor Statement

Please see <http://www.microsoft.com/security/security_bulletins/ms03-001.asp&gt;.

Vendor Information

The vendor has not provided us with any further information regarding this vulnerability.

Addendum

The CERT/CC has no additional comments at this time.

If you have feedback, comments, or additional information about this vulnerability, please send us [email](<mailto:[email protected]?Subject=VU%23610986 Feedback>).

CVSS Metrics

Group	Score	Vector
Base
Temporal
Environmental

References

• <http://msdn.microsoft.com/library/en-us/rpc/rpc/using_microsoft_locator.asp&gt;
• <http://www.microsoft.com/security/security_bulletins/ms03-001.asp&gt;
• <http://www.nextgenss.com/&gt;

Acknowledgements

Thanks to Microsoft for providing MS03-001, upon which this document is based. This vulnerability was discovered by David Litchfield of Next Generation Security Software Ltd.

This document was written by Ian A Finlay.

Other Information

CVE IDs:	CVE-2003-0003
CERT Advisory:	CA-2003-03 Severity Metric: