Debian LinuxOperating system · Debian
CVE-1999-0046
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 · uneditedBuffer overflow of rlogin program using TERM environmental variable.
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 confidenceBuffer overflow vulnerability in the rlogin program where the TERM environment variable can be exploited to overflow a buffer, potentially allowing arbitrary code execution or privilege escalation. This is a classic stack-based buffer overflow in a legacy network service.
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
Debian LinuxOperating system
= 0.93
FreeBSDOperating system
= 1.1.5.1= 2.0= 2.0.5= 2.1.0= 2.1.5= 1.1= 2.0= 2.0.1= 2.1all versions= 10.00= 10.01= 10.08= 10.09= 10.10= 10.16= 10.20= 10.24= 10.30= 10.34= 3.2= 4.1= 4.1.1= 4.1.2= 4.1.3= 4.1.4= 4.1.5= 1.0= 1.1all versionsCVSS 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
- Complete
- Integrity
- Complete
- Availability
- Complete
AV:N/AC:L/Au:N/C:C/I:C/A:C
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 checksWork through these to decide whether this CVE applies to you.
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Check if rlogin is installedRun 'which rlogin' or 'dpkg -l | grep rlogin' (Debian) or 'rpm -qa | grep rlogin' (RPM-based) to see if the rlogin binary exists on the systemAffected if rlogin binary is present on the system
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Check if rlogin service is runningRun 'ps aux | grep rlogind' or check /etc/inetd.conf (or xinetd configuration) to see if the rlogin daemon is enabledAffected if rlogind is running or enabled in inetd/xinetd configuration
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Identify the operating system versionRun 'uname -a' or 'cat /etc/os-release' (Linux) or 'sw_vers' (BSD) to determine the exact OS versionAffected if The OS version matches one of the affected versions listed: Debian 0.93, FreeBSD 1.1.5.1/2.0/2.0.5/2.1.0/2.1.5, Bsdi 1.1/2.0/2.0.1/2.1, Digital UltRIX (all), HP-UX 10.00-10.34, IBM AIX 3.2-4.1.5, NetBSD 1.0-1.1, NextStep (all)
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Verify TERM environment variable handlingCheck if the installed rlogin binary has known patches for TERM variable overflow. Compare file version with vendor security advisories for this CVEAffected if The installed rlogin binary is an unpatched version from the affected OS versions and has not been updated to address the TERM buffer overflow
The system is affected if rlogin is installed and running on one of the listed OS versions, as the unpatched rlogin binary allows TERM environment variable overflow exploitation.
Generated from the published advisory. Verify against your own configuration.
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 dataDisable the rlogin service entirely and migrate to SSH. If rlogin is required for legacy reasons, apply vendor patches if available and ensure the TERM variable is properly validated/bounded before use.
Fix this in Debian Linux
Scoped from the published advisory
- Consultation4.0 h
- Implementation8.0 h
- Testing4.0 h
- Review / QA2.0 h
An estimate, not a bill — we confirm scope with you before any work starts. Need it this week? Rush from $5,120.
Scan for this in your stack
Free · runs locallyCheck whether your project pulls in CVE-1999-0046 — or any other known-vulnerable package — straight from your lock files. Free and open source; it runs locally and uploads nothing.
References Go to the primary sourcePrimary sources — vendor advisories, patches and trackers. Where our summary and a reference disagree, the reference wins.
Primary sourcesPractitioner notes
ContributedPeer-ranked notes from engineers who’ve handled CVE-1999-0046 in production — separate from our analysis above.
The advisory tells you what broke. It rarely tells you what actually worked. If you’ve dealt with this one, that detail is what the next engineer is searching for.
- The version that genuinely resolved it — not the one the vendor claimed
- A config change or rule that shut the vector down
- A gotcha in the upgrade path that cost you an afternoon
No notes yet
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- Verified mitigations, workarounds, and config changes
- Version or environment caveats, and links to real fixes
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