CVE-1999-0281: Medium severity Microsoft Internet Information Server vulnerability

Published Jun 1, 1997
·
Updated

Denial of service in IIS using long URLs.

Affected Software

2 affected components
Microsoft Internet Information Server=3.0
Microsoft Internet Information Services=2.0

Remediation

Recommended actions to resolve this vulnerability, in priority order.

  1. Remove

    Remove Microsoft Internet Information Services from your environment.

    If IIS is not required, uninstall or disable the Microsoft Internet Information Services role to eliminate exposure to the long-URL denial-of-service issue.

  2. Compensating control

    Deploy edge filtering (WAF, reverse proxy, or firewall) to block or reject HTTP requests with excessively long request URLs and implement rate-limiting to mitigate denial-of-service attempts against IIS.

  3. Operational

    Monitor IIS hosts for signs of DoS (high CPU, memory, request queue depth) and enable/request logging of request URIs to detect long-URL attacks; perform service/restart or failover procedures to recover affected systems and apply vendor fixes when they are published.

Event History

Jun 1, 1997
CVE Published
04:00 AM
Data Sourced
via NVD·04:00 AM
DescriptionSeverityAffected Software
Sep 29, 1999
CVE Published
via MITRE·08:00 AM
Data Sourced
via MITRE·08:00 AM
Description

Frequently Asked Questions

1

What is the severity of CVE-1999-0281?

CVE-1999-0281 is classified as a denial of service vulnerability affecting IIS and Internet Information Services.

2

How does CVE-1999-0281 exploit system vulnerabilities?

CVE-1999-0281 exploits the system by sending excessively long URLs, causing the server to become unresponsive.

3

Which versions are affected by CVE-1999-0281?

CVE-1999-0281 affects Microsoft Internet Information Server 3.0 and Internet Information Services 2.0.

4

How do I remediate CVE-1999-0281?

To remediate CVE-1999-0281, upgrade to a version of IIS that is not susceptible to this vulnerability.

5

What are the potential impacts of CVE-1999-0281?

The potential impacts of CVE-1999-0281 include downtime and loss of availability for web services hosted on the affected systems.

Contact

SecAlerts Pty Ltd.
132 Wickham Terrace
Fortitude Valley,
QLD 4006, Australia
info@secalerts.co
By using SecAlerts services, you agree to our services end-user license agreement. This website is safeguarded by reCAPTCHA and governed by the Google Privacy Policy and Terms of Service. All names, logos, and brands of products are owned by their respective owners, and any usage of these names, logos, and brands for identification purposes only does not imply endorsement. If you possess any content that requires removal, please get in touch with us.
© 2026 SecAlerts Pty Ltd.
ABN: 70 645 966 203, ACN: 645 966 203