dbcve.org
Hp UxOperating system · Hp

CVE-1999-0097

HIGH · 10.0 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 →
100/100
Remediation priority · Urgent
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
The AIX FTP client can be forced to execute commands from a malicious server through shell metacharacters (e.g. a pipe character).

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

The AIX FTP client contains a command injection vulnerability where shell metacharacters (such as pipe characters) are improperly processed, allowing a malicious FTP server to execute arbitrary commands on the client system with the privileges of the user running the FTP client.

MitigationAvoid connecting to untrusted FTP servers; apply AIX security patches from IBM; consider migrating to SFTP or SCP for secure file transfers.

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
Hp UxOperating system
Affected:= 9.00= 9.01= 9.03= 9.04= 9.05= 9.06= 9.07= 9.08= 9.09= 9.10= 10.00= 10.10
AixOperating system
Affected:= 3.2= 3.2.4= 3.2.5= 4.1= 4.1.1= 4.1.2= 4.1.3= 4.1.4= 4.1.5= 4.2= 4.2.1
SolarisOperating system
Affected:= 2.4= 2.5= 2.5.1= 2.6
SunosOperating system
Affected:all versions= 4.1.3c= 4.1.3u1= 4.1.4= 5.3= 5.4= 5.5= 5.5.1

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
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 checks

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

  1. Identify the operating system and version
    Run 'uname -a' or 'oslevel' (AIX) to determine the exact OS version
    Affected if The OS is HP-UX 9.00-10.10, IBM AIX 3.2-4.2.1, Sun Solaris 2.4-2.6, or any SunOS version
  2. Locate the native FTP client binary
    Check for /usr/bin/ftp or /etc/ftp executable using 'ls -la /usr/bin/ftp'
    Affected if The native FTP client is present on the system
  3. Verify the FTP client vendor and version
    Run 'ftp -v' or check the binary with 'what /usr/bin/ftp' to identify the version
    Affected if The FTP client originates from the affected OS vendors (IBM, HP, Sun) and matches vulnerable versions
  4. Determine if FTP client is used to connect to external or untrusted servers
    Review user scripts, cron jobs, or network connections that invoke the FTP client to external hosts
    Affected if Users or automated processes connect the FTP client to servers outside the trusted internal network

A user is affected if they run any of the listed OS versions (HP-UX 9.00-10.10, AIX 3.2-4.2.1, Solaris 2.4-2.6, or SunOS) and use the native FTP client to connect to potentially untrusted remote servers.

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

Avoid connecting to untrusted FTP servers; apply AIX security patches from IBM; consider migrating to SFTP or SCP for secure file transfers.

Fix this in Hp Ux Scoped from the published advisory
  • Consultation3.0 h
  • Implementation6.0 h
  • Testing3.0 h
  • Review / QA2.0 h
14.0 hours of engineering $2,490
Get help mitigating

An estimate, not a bill — we confirm scope with you before any work starts. Need it this week? Rush from $3,984.

Scan for this in your stack

Free · runs locally
dbcve dependency scanner

Check whether your project pulls in CVE-1999-0097 — or any other known-vulnerable package — straight from your lock files. Free and open source; it runs locally and uploads nothing.

Get it on GitHub Scan in the browser

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-1999-0097 in production — separate from our analysis above.

No notes yet

Be the first to add a field note for this CVE — a mitigation you’ve verified, a version caveat, or a link to a working fix. Sign in above to contribute.

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
  • No weaponised exploit code, or anything meant to cause harm
  • No spam, self-promotion, credentials, or personal data