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Windows NtOperating system · Microsoft

CVE-1999-0274

MEDIUM · 5.0 CVSS v2.0 Published 1997-01-01
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 DNS servers through malicious packet which contains a response to a query that wasn't made.

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

Windows NT DNS servers can be crashed via a malicious DNS response packet sent to the server for a query that was never made. The vulnerability exploits the lack of proper validation of unsolicited DNS responses, allowing an attacker to cause a denial of service by sending crafted packets.

MitigationApply the relevant Windows NT security patches from the late 1990s era, or migrate to a supported DNS server implementation that validates transaction IDs and source port randomization to reject unsolicited DNS responses.

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
Windows NtOperating system
Affected:= 4.0

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 version
    Run 'winmsd' or check system properties to confirm the Windows version. Look for 'Windows NT Version 4.0'
    Affected if The system is running Windows NT 4.0 specifically
  2. Verify if DNS Server service is installed
    Check Services Control Panel or run 'net start' to list running services. Look for 'Microsoft DNS Server' service
    Affected if The Microsoft DNS Server service is installed on the system
  3. Confirm DNS server is listening
    Check if port 53 is open by running 'netstat -an' or using port scanning tools. Look for UDP port 53 listening
    Affected if A DNS server is actively listening on UDP port 53
  4. Check for recent security patches
    Review installed updates via 'Control Panel' > 'Add/Remove Programs' or check for hotfixes related to DNS (late 1990s era patches)
    Affected if No DNS-specific security patches from the late 1990s are installed

A system is affected if it is running Windows NT 4.0 with the Microsoft DNS Server service installed and listening, without era-appropriate DNS security patches applied.

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 the relevant Windows NT security patches from the late 1990s era, or migrate to a supported DNS server implementation that validates transaction IDs and source port randomization to reject unsolicited DNS responses.

Fix this in Windows Nt Scoped from the published advisory
  • Consultation2.0 h
  • Implementation4.0 h
  • Testing2.0 h
  • Review / QA1.0 h
9.0 hours of engineering $1,600
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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-1999-0274 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