CVE-1999-0179
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 · uneditedWindows NT crashes or locks up when a Samba client executes a "cd .." command on a file share.
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 confidenceA denial-of-service vulnerability in Windows NT where the OS crashes or locks up when a Samba client executes a 'cd ..' command on a file share. This appears to be a client-side issue triggered by certain directory traversal behavior through the SMB/Samba protocol.
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 dataall versions= 3.5.1CVSS 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
- None
- Availability
- Partial
AV:N/AC:L/Au:N/C:N/I:N/A:P
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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Identify the Windows versionRun 'winmsd' or check System Properties to determine the exact Windows version. For command-line, use 'ver' command or check the registry at HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Windows NT\CurrentVersionAffected if The system is Windows 95 (any version) or Windows NT version 3.5.1 specifically
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Verify SMB file sharing service statusCheck if the SMB service is running. In Windows NT 3.5.1, verify the 'Server' service is enabled. Use 'net start' command or check Services Control Panel for 'Server' service statusAffected if The SMB/Server service is running and accepting file share connections
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Confirm Samba client exposureDetermine if the system accesses Samba shares or acts as a Samba server. Check for active SMB connections using 'net use' or review any mounted Samba sharesAffected if The system has active Samba/SMB file shares mounted or shared
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Test directory traversal trigger conditionAttempt a 'cd ..' command from within any mapped Samba share. Observe if the Windows system becomes unresponsive, crashes, or locks upAffected if The system crashes, freezes, or becomes unresponsive when a Samba client performs directory traversal via 'cd ..' on a share
You are affected if the system is Windows 95 (any version) or Windows NT 3.5.1, has SMB file sharing enabled, and experiences a crash or freeze when a Samba client executes 'cd ..' on a file share.
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 dataWindows NT is end-of-life and no longer receives security updates; migrate to a supported Windows version. If Samba shares must be accessed from legacy systems, restrict or audit directory traversal operations on the share.
- Consultation2.0 h
- Implementation4.0 h
- Testing2.0 h
- Review / QA1.0 h
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Scan for this in your stack
Free · runs locallyCheck whether your project pulls in CVE-1999-0179 — 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-1999-0179 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
- No weaponised exploit code, or anything meant to cause harm
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