CVE-1999-0296
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 · uneditedSolaris volrmmount program allows attackers to read any file.
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 Solaris volrmmount program (volume manager mount daemon) contains a vulnerability that allows local attackers to read arbitrary files on the system. This appears to be a file access control issue where the program does not properly restrict access to sensitive files.
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= 2.6all versionsCVSS 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
- Local
- Complexity
- Low
- Authentication
- None
- Confidentiality
- Complete
- Integrity
- Complete
- Availability
- Complete
AV:L/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 checksWork through these to decide whether this CVE applies to you.
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Verify if volrmmount program existsRun 'which volrmmount' or 'ls -la /usr/lib/volrmmount' to check if the Solaris volume manager mount daemon is installed on the systemAffected if The program exists on the system - this is a prerequisite for the vulnerability
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Determine Solaris or SunOS versionRun 'uname -a' or 'cat /etc/release' to identify the exact OS versionAffected if The system is running Sun Solaris 2.6 or any version of SunOS (all versions are affected per the CVE)
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Check volrmmount binary permissions and ownershipRun 'ls -la /usr/lib/volrmmount' (or locate it via 'find / -name volrmmount -type f 2>/dev/null') and examine the permissions, owner, and groupAffected if The binary has weak permissions (such as world-readable/executable) or unusual ownership that could allow unauthorized local access
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Inspect volume manager configuration filesExamine configuration files in /etc/vol and /etc/dfs/dfstab or similar volume manager directories for any entries that permit broad file accessAffected if Configuration files contain settings that allow volrmmount to access files outside normal volume management scope
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Test for arbitrary file read accessAs a test (in an authorized manner), verify if volrmmount can be invoked to access a file outside its intended scope - check if it follows symlinks or accesses files based on configuration without proper validationAffected if The program permits reading files outside the intended volume/device scope without proper access controls
If the system runs Solaris 2.6 or any SunOS version AND has the volrmmount program installed with weak or permissive configuration, the environment is likely vulnerable to unauthorized file reads via this daemon.
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 dataApply the appropriate historical Sun patch for this vulnerability (typically from 1999 era Solaris patches). Modern Solaris systems should be patched to current supported versions. If running legacy Solaris systems, isolate them from untrusted access and consider upgrading to supported versions.
- Consultation2.0 h
- Implementation1.0 h
- Testing1.0 h
- Review / QA1.0 h
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Scan for this in your stack
Free · runs locallyCheck whether your project pulls in CVE-1999-0296 — 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-1999-0296 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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