CVE-1999-0191
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 · uneditedIIS newdsn.exe CGI script allows remote users to overwrite files.
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 confidenceThe IIS newdsn.exe CGI script contains a vulnerability that allows remote unauthenticated users to overwrite arbitrary files on the web server by manipulating file paths in the request parameters. This file write primitive can lead to web shell deployment or denial of 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= 3.0CVSS 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
- Partial
- Integrity
- Partial
- Availability
- None
AV:N/AC:L/Au:N/C:P/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 checksWork through these to decide whether this CVE applies to you.
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Identify IIS versionCheck the installed Microsoft Internet Information Server version via registry key HKLM\SYSTEM\CurrentControlSet\Services\W3SVC\Parameters\MajorVersion or by running 'iisweb.vbs /query' or checking the IIS manager snap-inAffected if The version is exactly 3.0 (the only affected version listed)
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Locate newdsn.exe scriptSearch for the newdsn.exe file in the IIS scripts directory, typically /scripts or /IISScripts, using file system search or checking the physical path configured in IISAffected if The newdsn.exe file exists on the server in a CGI-accessible directory
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Verify CGI script execution is enabledCheck IIS configuration to confirm CGI scripts are permitted, either through the IIS Manager snap-in under 'CGI' extension permissions or by reviewing the scripts mapping in the metabaseAffected if CGI script execution is allowed and newdsn.exe is accessible via HTTP
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Confirm web-facing exposureTest if the newdsn.exe script is reachable externally by attempting an HTTP request to http://target/scripts/newdsn.exe or the appropriate script path, or review IIS access logging for requests to this CGIAffected if The newdsn.exe CGI is reachable from untrusted network segments
You are affected if you are running IIS version 3.0 with the newdsn.exe CGI script present and CGI execution enabled on an accessible web server.
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 dataRemove or disable the newdsn.exe CGI script from the IIS scripts directory, or restrict CGI execution permissions to prevent unauthorized file operations. Apply appropriate file system permissions to prevent web-facing processes from writing to sensitive directories.
- Consultation2.0 h
- Implementation1.0 h
- Testing1.0 h
- Review / QA1.0 h
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Free · runs locallyCheck whether your project pulls in CVE-1999-0191 — 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-1999-0191 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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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.
- 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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