BindApplication · Isc

CVE-1999-0024

MEDIUM · 5.0 CVSS v2.0 Published 1997-08-13
Mitigation only
No fix yet — a mitigation exists. There is no fixed release. A documented workaround reduces exposure in the meantime.
See remediation →
59/100
Remediation priority · Elevated
Remotely reachable No privileges Zero-click

Official description Straight from the sourceThe vendor's or NVD's own wording, published unedited. Authoritative, but often terse — it says what broke, rarely what to do.

NVD · unedited
DNS cache poisoning via BIND, by predictable query IDs.

Technical summary Written by usOur analysis, written from the advisory, the CVSS vector and the affected-version data. It adds context the advisory leaves out, and never invents facts that are not in the source.

dbcve analysis · high confidence

DNS cache poisoning vulnerability in BIND where the transaction ID (query ID) in DNS requests was predictable, allowing remote attackers to inject malicious DNS records into a caching resolver's cache and redirect traffic to attacker-controlled servers.

MitigationUpgrade BIND to a version that implements cryptographically random transaction IDs, or configure the resolver to use source port randomization and modern BIND versions with improved query ID generation.

Verify against the referenced sources before acting — the references below are authoritative for this CVE, this summary is not.

Affected products & versions What the vendor confirmedThe version ranges the vendor confirmed as vulnerable. If your version sits inside a range here, treat yourself as exposed until you have upgraded.

NVD · CPE data
BindApplication
Affected:= 4.9.5= 8.1
Bsd OsOperating system
Affected:= 2.1= 3.0
AixOperating system
Affected:= 4.1= 4.2
Asl Ux 4800Operating system
Affected:= 64
Ews Ux VOperating system
Affected:= 4.2= 4.2mp
Up Ux VOperating system
Affected:= 4.2mp
Open DesktopOperating system
Affected:= 3.0
OpenserverOperating system
Affected:= 5.0

CVSS breakdown How the score is builtThe industry scoring standard. It rates how the flaw is reached, what it takes to exploit, and what an attacker gains — the score is derived from those, not the other way round.

From the vector
Attack vector
Network
Complexity
Low
Authentication
None
Confidentiality
None
Integrity
Partial
Availability
None

AV:N/AC:L/Au:N/C:N/I:P/A:N

Am I affected? How to checkSteps we derive from the advisory and the affected-version data, so you can decide whether this CVE reaches your setup. They are a guide, not a scan — your own configuration is the authority.

dbcve checks

Work through these to decide whether this CVE applies to you.

  1. Identify if BIND is installed
    Run 'named -v' or 'named -V' to check the BIND version, or check for the named process with 'ps aux | grep named'
    Affected if BIND version matches 4.9.5 or 8.1 from the affected list, or the specific versions listed for other affected products
  2. Determine the BIND package version
    Use system package managers: rpm -q bind, dpkg -l bind, or check /usr/sbin/named binary directly with 'named -v'
    Affected if Installed version equals 4.9.5 or 8.1 for ISC BIND, or any of the specific versions listed for BSDi, IBM AIX, NEC, or SCO systems
  3. Check if recursion is enabled
    Inspect the BIND configuration file (named.conf) for 'recursion yes;' or 'allow-recursion' directives, or query the server with 'dig +short @server localhost' to test recursive capability
    Affected if The server is configured as a caching resolver with recursion enabled - this is required for the cache poisoning attack to be exploitable
  4. Verify query ID randomness
    Capture DNS queries with tcpdump or wireshark and observe the Transaction ID (ID) field in DNS packets - check if IDs follow a predictable pattern or increment sequentially
    Affected if Query IDs are sequential, zero, or otherwise predictable rather than randomized - the core vulnerability of CVE-1999-0024

The system is affected if it runs BIND version 4.9.5 or 8.1 (or any affected product/version listed) with recursion enabled, and DNS query IDs can be predicted rather than randomly generated.

Generated from the published advisory. Verify against your own configuration.

Check your environment

Paste your version and any relevant configuration and it will be compared against the affected criteria above. Do not include secrets or credentials.

AI-assisted, checked against the advisory. Informational, not a guarantee.

Remediation Closing itWhat it takes to close this. Where a vendor fix exists we point at it; where none exists we say so plainly, and can build one. Effort estimates are scoped from the advisory, not from your codebase.

From vendor data
Mitigation available No clean upgrade yet — mitigate in the meantime
Mitigation

Upgrade BIND to a version that implements cryptographically random transaction IDs, or configure the resolver to use source port randomization and modern BIND versions with improved query ID generation.

Fix this in Bind Scoped from the published advisory
  • Consultation1.0 h
  • Implementation2.0 h
  • Testing2.0 h
  • Review / QA1.0 h
6.0 hours of engineering $1,040
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Scan for this in your stack

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References Go to the primary sourcePrimary sources — vendor advisories, patches and trackers. Where our summary and a reference disagree, the reference wins.

Primary sources

Practitioner notes

Contributed

Peer-ranked notes from engineers who’ve handled CVE-1999-0024 in production — separate from our analysis above.

No notes yet

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What this is

A place for practitioners to share what actually worked: a mitigation you’ve tested, a configuration change, a version- or environment-specific caveat, or a link to a verified patch. The most useful notes rise to the top as peers upvote them, so the signal stays high.

What belongs here
  • Verified mitigations, workarounds, and config changes
  • Version or environment caveats, and links to real fixes
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