Allaire Security Bulletin (ASB99-03) Microsoft Internet Information Server Exposure of Source Code with "::$DATA" Originally Posted: February 4, 1999 Summary As indicated on the Microsoft Web site, Microsoft IIS exposes the ability to use an NTFS attribute to read the source code of ASP, CFML, Perl and other files that are on a server. This is not a problem with ColdFusion Server itself, but it is an issue that can affect ColdFusion users. Allaire recommends that customers follow the instructions posted on the Microsoft Web site to address this issue. Issue This issue is clearly explained in the Microsoft Knowledge Base: "The native Windows NT file system, NTFS, supports multiple data streams within a file. The main data stream, that which stores the main content, is called DATA. Accessing this NTFS attribute directly from a browser may display the script code for the file." For example, accessing http://myserver/index.cfm::$DATA may yield the contents of the file itself, not the processed results of the file. Affected Software Versions * Any ColdFusion Server running on Microsoft IIS (1.0, 2.0, 3.0 or 4.0) What Allaire is Doing This is not an Allaire product. We are recommending that customers reference the information at Microsoft's site to address this issue. What Customers Should Do There are several patches and workarounds available to correct this problem. These are detailed in the following Microsoft Knowledge base article (Q188806): [4]http://support.microsoft.com/support/kb/articles/q188/8/06.asp Note: The Knowledge Base article provides instructions for changing application mappings as one of the solutions. The same instructions apply to ColdFusion with the following information: Executable Path %System32%\iscf.dll .cfm::$DATA .dbm::$DATA Revisions February 4, 1999 -- Bulletin first released. Reporting Security Issues Allaire is committed to addressing security issues and providing customers with the information on how they can protect themselves. If you identify what you believe may be a security issue with an Allaire product, please send an email to secure@allaire.com. We will work to appropriately address and communicate the issue. Receiving Security Bulletins When Allaire becomes aware of a security issue that we believe significantly affects our products or customers, we will notify customers when appropriate. Typically this notification will be in the form of a security bulletin explaining the issue and the response. Allaire customers who would like to receive notification of new security bulletins when they are released can sign up for our security notification service. For additional information on security issues at Allaire, please visit: [5]http://www.allaire.com/security THE INFORMATION PROVIDED BY ALLAIRE IN THIS BULLETIN IS PROVIDED "AS IS" WITHOUT WARRANTY OF ANY KIND. ALLAIRE DISCLAIMS ALL WARRANTIES, EITHER EXPRESS OR IMPLIED, INCLUDING THE WARRANTIES OF MERCHANTABILITY AND FITNESS FOR A PARTICULAR PURPOSE. IN NO EVENT SHALL ALLAIRE CORPORATION OR ITS SUPPLIERS BE LIABLE FOR ANY DAMAGES WHATSOEVER INCLUDING DIRECT, INDIRECT, INCIDENTAL, CONSEQUENTIAL, LOSS OF BUSINESS PROFITS OR SPECIAL DAMAGES, EVEN IF ALLAIRE CORPORATION OR ITS SUPPLIERS HAVE BEEN ADVISED OF THE POSSIBILITY OF SUCH DAMAGES. SOME STATES DO NOT ALLOW THE EXCLUSION OR LIMITATION OF LIABILITY FOR CONSEQUENTIAL OR INCIDENTAL DAMAGES SO THE FOREGOING LIMITATION MAY NOT APPLY. < a l l a i r e > Copyright © 1995-99 Allaire Corp., All rights reserved. [6]Site problems? [7]Service questions? [8]Privacy Policy References 1. LYNXIMGMAP:http://www1.allaire.com/handlers/index.cfm?ID=8729&Method=Full#allaireHome 2. LYNXIMGMAP:http://www1.allaire.com/handlers/index.cfm?ID=8729&Method=Full#tools 3. javascript:history.back() 4. http://support.microsoft.com/support/kb/articles/q188/8/06.asp 5. http://www.allaire.com/security 6. mailto:webmaster@allaire.com 7. mailto:info@allaire.com 8. http://www.allaire.com/privacy/