Executive brief
A critical security flaw exists in the NCSA HTTP daemon, an early web server software. This vulnerability allows an outside attacker to take control of the server by sending specially crafted data. Successful exploitation could lead to unauthorized access to sensitive files, data modification, or a complete takeover of the hosting system.
Technical details
A buffer overflow vulnerability exists in the NCSA HTTP daemon (httpd) version 1.3. The flaw is rooted in insufficient bounds checking when processing incoming HTTP requests. A remote, unauthenticated attacker can exploit this by sending a maliciously crafted request to the server, leading to memory corruption. This allows the attacker to overwrite the instruction pointer and execute arbitrary commands with the privileges of the user running the web server process.
Affected products
- NCSA HTTP daemon 1.3
Timeline
- 1997-09-23: disclosed: NVD Published Date