Re: Has anyone verified whether is is valid?

[marc () EEYE COM (Marc)]

There is no vulnerability. Yes the string "netscape programmers are weenies" is correct but, in order to even view the 
dll you need frontpage Web Author permissions which requires a user/pass pair or really crappy settings by the 
administrator. Once you have access to a FP web as Web Author its game over because you can upload files etc...

For exaple you could upload netcat and cmd.exe to the cgi-bin folder and then bind cmd.exe to any given port.

So no there is no new hole really. People have been taking advantage of lax FP permissions for years now.

Signed,
Marc
eEye Digital Security
http://www.eEye.com

------------------------
Time: Fri, 14 Apr 2000 14:55:19 -0000
From: M J <M J <lurker () ITIS COM>>
Subject: Has anyone verified whether is is valid?

Friday's top stories
Microsoft admits security flaw
By CBS MarketWatch
Last Update: 9:07 AM ET Apr 14, 2000
NEW YORK (CBS.MW) -- Microsoft (MSFT </data/squote.htx?
TICKER=MSFT&TABLES=table&SOURCE=htx/http2_mw&dist=newsq>:
news <http://www.marketwatch.newsalert.com/bin/headlines?
Query=MSFT&SearchOption=ticker>, msgs
<http://messages.marketwatch.com/mwclub/tickerLink.asp?
ticker=MSFT&dist=newsm>) acknowledged Thursday that its
engineers included in some of its Internet software a
secret password -- a phrase deriding their rivals at
Netscape as "weenies" -- that could be used to gain illicit
access to hundreds of thousands of Internet sites world-
wide. The manager of Microsoft's security-response center,
Steve Lipner, acknowledged the online-security risk in an
interview Thursday and described such a backdoor password
as "absolutely against our policy" and a firing offense for
the as yet unidentified employees. The company planned to
warn customers as soon as possible with an e-mail bulletin
and an advisory published on its corporate Web site.
Microsoft urged customers to delete the computer file-
called "dvwssr.dll"-containing the offending code. The file
is installed on the company's Internet-server software with
Frontpage 98 extensions. While there are no reports that
the alleged security flaw has been exploited, the affected
software is believed to be used by many Web sites. By using
the so-called back door, a hacker may be able to gain
access to key Web-site management files, which could in
turn provide a road map to such things as customer credit-
card numbers, said security experts who discovered the
password.

-Matthew