Windows 2000 introduced native support for the Internet Printing Protocol (IPP), an industry-standard protocol for submitting and controlling print jobs over HTTP. The protocol is implemented in Windows 2000 via an ISAPI extension that is installed by default on all Windows 2000 servers but which can only be accessed via IIS 5.0.
The attacker could exploit the vulnerability against any server with which she could conduct a web session. No other services would need to be available, and only port 80 (HTTP) or 443 (HTTPS) would need to be open. Clearly, this is a very serious vulnerability, and Microsoft strongly recommends that all IIS 5.0 administrators install the patch immediately. Alternatively, customers who cannot install the patch can protect their systems by removing the mapping for Internet Printing ISAPI extension.
|