Article ID: 278836 - Last Review: July 7, 2008 - Revision: 6.1

ADSI GetObject queries may fail from ASP but work from VBScript

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This article was previously published under Q278836

We strongly recommend that all users upgrade to Microsoft Internet Information Services (IIS) version 7.0 running on Microsoft Windows Server 2008. IIS 7.0 significantly increases Web infrastructure security. For more information about IIS security-related topics, visit the following Microsoft Web site:

http://www.microsoft.com/technet/security/prodtech/IIS.mspx (http://www.microsoft.com/technet/security/prodtech/IIS.mspx)

For more information about IIS 7.0, visit the following Microsoft Web site:

http://www.iis.net/default.aspx?tabid=1 (http://www.iis.net/default.aspx?tabid=1)

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SYMPTOMS

If you attempt to use a GetObject query from an Active Server Pages (ASP) page to list the users in a particular group, the result set may be blank, although this same query returns data if it is run from Microsoft Visual Basic Scripting Edition (VBScript) code on the IIS server. Also, queries for groups or other objects that are run from an ASP page return data.

For example, the following query returns an empty user list:

Set ADsGroup = GetObject("WinNT://DOMAIN/SomeGroup,Group")
 For Each Member in ADsGroup.members
   response.write Member.name

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CAUSE

This problem occurs if all of the following conditions are met:

The IIS server is not a domain controller. If the IIS server is a member server of a domain and is not a domain controller, Microsoft Windows NT GetObject queries must contact a domain controller to retrieve the requested information.
The ASP page that makes the query uses the Windows NT Challenge/Response authentication method. If the page that makes the request is authenticated with Windows NT Challenge/Response, the query from the IIS computer to the domain controller is made with a NULL, or anonymous, user account because Windows NT Challenge/Response does not support double-hop impersonation.
The RestrictAnonymous registry key on the domain controller to be contacted is set to 1. If the RestrictAnonymous registry key is set to 1 on the domain controller, the query will fail because the query uses a NULL, or anonymous, account.

NOTE: Because the RestrictAnonymous registry key only restricts the listing of user accounts and shares, other queries, such as Group, succeed. The query also succeeds if it is run with VBScript because the query is initiated on the IIS server by a logged in user, so the query can run using the user's credentials.

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WORKAROUND

Use the following methods to run the query. Use Basic or Clear Text as your authentication method. This allows IIS to pass the user's credentials to the domain controller.

Note When you use Clear Text as your authentication method, you should also consider using Secure Sockets Layer (SSL) to secure the page.

For more information about the RestrictAnonymous registry key, click the article number to view the article in the Microsoft Knowledge Base:

143474 (http://support.microsoft.com/kb/143474/ ) Restricting information available to anonymous logon users

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