dbcve.org
Internet Information ServerApplication · Microsoft

CVE-1999-0229

MEDIUM · 5.0 CVSS v2.0 Published 1999-05-12
Mitigation only
No fix yet — a mitigation exists. There is no fixed release. A documented workaround reduces exposure in the meantime.
See remediation →
59/100
Remediation priority · Elevated
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
Denial of service in Windows NT IIS server using ..\..

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 · low confidence

Path traversal vulnerability in Windows NT IIS server allowing attackers to cause denial of service via malformed requests containing '..\..' directory traversal sequences.

MitigationApply relevant Microsoft security patches for IIS on Windows NT, or migrate to supported IIS versions which have hardened path traversal protections.

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
Internet Information ServerApplication
Affected:all versions

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
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 checks

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

  1. Identify the operating system
    Run 'ver' command or check system properties to confirm the OS is Windows NT. This vulnerability only affects Windows NT systems running IIS.
    Affected if The system is running Windows NT as the operating system
  2. Check if IIS is installed and running
    Check for the presence of IIS services or inetinfo.exe process. On Windows NT, open Control Panel > Services or use 'net start' command to list running services.
    Affected if Internet Information Server (IIS) is installed and running on the Windows NT system
  3. Verify the IIS version
    Check the IIS version by examining the inetinfo.exe file properties or checking the IIS metadata. The vulnerability affects all versions of IIS on Windows NT.
    Affected if Any version of IIS is running on Windows NT (all versions are affected)
  4. Confirm network exposure
    Determine if the IIS server is directly accessible over the network. The vulnerability is exploited via malformed HTTP requests containing '..\..' directory traversal sequences.
    Affected if The IIS server accepts HTTP requests from network clients

The environment is affected if IIS is running on Windows NT (any version) and is accessible over a network, as the vulnerability allows denial of service via malformed requests with directory traversal sequences.

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

Apply relevant Microsoft security patches for IIS on Windows NT, or migrate to supported IIS versions which have hardened path traversal protections.

Fix this in Internet Information Server Scoped from the published advisory
  • Consultation2.0 h
  • Review / QA1.0 h
3.0 hours of engineering $750
Get help mitigating

An estimate, not a bill — we confirm scope with you before any work starts. Need it this week? Rush from $1,200.

Scan for this in your stack

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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-1999-0229 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