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SendmailApplication · Eric Allman

CVE-1999-0206

HIGH · 10.0 CVSS v2.0 Published 1996-10-01
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
MIME buffer overflow in Sendmail 8.8.0 and 8.8.1 gives 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 · high confidence

Buffer overflow vulnerability in Sendmail versions 8.8.0 and 8.8.1's MIME parsing functionality allows remote attackers to execute arbitrary code with root privileges by sending specially crafted MIME messages.

MitigationUpgrade Sendmail to version 8.8.2 or later, or migrate to a modern mail server (Postfix, Exim, or current Sendmail). If immediate patching is impossible, restrict SMTP access to trusted networks as a temporary measure.

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
SendmailApplication
Affected:= 8.8= 8.8.1

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 Sendmail version
    Run 'sendmail -V' or 'sendmail -d0.1' to display the installed Sendmail version. On Linux systems, also try 'rpm -q sendmail' or 'dpkg -l sendmail' if available.
    Affected if The version displayed is exactly 8.8 or 8.8.1, meaning it matches the affected version range.
  2. Confirm MIME processing is enabled
    Examine the Sendmail configuration file (typically /etc/sendmail.cf or /etc/mail/sendmail.cf) for MIME-related settings. Look for 'MIME-Handle' options or rulesets that handle MIME content types.
    Affected if MIME parsing support is enabled in the configuration, as the vulnerability resides specifically in Sendmail's MIME parsing code.
  3. Check SMTP network exposure
    Review firewall rules (iptables, ufw, or similar) and Sendmail configuration to determine if port 25 (SMTP) is accessible from untrusted networks.
    Affected if SMTP port 25 is exposed to external or untrusted networks, allowing remote attackers to deliver specially crafted MIME messages.

Your system is affected if Sendmail version 8.8 or 8.8.1 is installed with MIME support enabled and SMTP is network-accessible, as the vulnerability requires both the affected version and MIME processing to be active.

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

Upgrade Sendmail to version 8.8.2 or later, or migrate to a modern mail server (Postfix, Exim, or current Sendmail). If immediate patching is impossible, restrict SMTP access to trusted networks as a temporary measure.

Fix this in Sendmail Scoped from the published advisory
  • Consultation4.0 h
  • Implementation8.0 h
  • Testing4.0 h
  • Review / QA2.0 h
18.0 hours of engineering $3,200
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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-1999-0206 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
  • No weaponised exploit code, or anything meant to cause harm
  • No spam, self-promotion, credentials, or personal data