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AixOperating system · Ibm

CVE-1999-0092

HIGH · 7.2 CVSS v2.0 Published 1997-10-29
Mitigation only
No fix yet — a mitigation exists. There is no fixed release. A documented workaround reduces exposure in the meantime.
See remediation →
77/100
Remediation priority · High
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
Various vulnerabilities in the AIX portmir command allows local users to obtain root access.

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 · moderate confidence

The AIX portmir command contains multiple vulnerabilities that allow local authenticated users to escalate privileges to root. The specific attack vectors are not detailed in the available description, but the vulnerability enables complete compromise of the affected system.

MitigationDisable or remove the portmir command if present, ensure strict file permissions on sensitive system binaries, and upgrade to a supported AIX version as this vulnerability affects legacy AIX systems from the 1990s.

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
AixOperating system
Affected:= 4.2.1

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
Local
Complexity
Low
Authentication
None
Confidentiality
Complete
Integrity
Complete
Availability
Complete

AV:L/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 checks

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

  1. Identify the operating system
    Run 'uname -a' or 'oslevel' to confirm the system is IBM AIX
    Affected if The system is running AIX version 4.2.1 specifically
  2. Check AIX version number
    Run the command 'oslevel -r' or examine /etc/passwd and /etc/inittab for AIX version markers. Also try 'lslpp -h bos.rte' to query the bos.rte fileset version
    Affected if The reported version matches 4.2.1 exactly
  3. Locate the portmir binary
    Execute 'which portmir' or 'find /usr -name portmir 2>/dev/null' or check '/usr/bin/portmir' directly
    Affected if The portmir executable exists on the system in any location
  4. Verify portmir permissions
    Run 'ls -la' on the portmir binary path found in the previous step, or use 'lsattr -El sys0' to check system security attributes
    Affected if portmir exists and is executable by non-privileged users (world-executable or group-executable)

The system is affected if it runs AIX 4.2.1 and the portmir command is present and accessible to regular user accounts.

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

Disable or remove the portmir command if present, ensure strict file permissions on sensitive system binaries, and upgrade to a supported AIX version as this vulnerability affects legacy AIX systems from the 1990s.

Fix this in Aix Scoped from the published advisory
  • Consultation2.0 h
  • Implementation4.0 h
  • Testing2.0 h
  • Review / QA1.0 h
9.0 hours of engineering $1,600
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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-1999-0092 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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  • No spam, self-promotion, credentials, or personal data