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VvosOperating system · Hp

CVE-1999-0306

HIGH · 7.2 CVSS v2.0 Published 1997-11-04
Mitigation only
No fix yet — a mitigation exists. There is no fixed release. A documented workaround reduces exposure in the meantime.
See remediation →
77/100
Remediation priority · High
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
buffer overflow in HP xlock program.

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 confidence

Buffer overflow vulnerability in HP's xlock screen locking utility for the X Window System. The overflow allows local or potentially remote attackers to execute arbitrary code or cause denial of service via malformed input handling.

MitigationReplace xlock with modern alternatives such as xlockmore or native screen lockers provided by desktop environments (gnome-screensaver, kscreensaver). If xlock must be used, restrict access and ensure proper system hardening.

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
VvosOperating system
Affected:= 10.24

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
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 checks

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

  1. Verify if xlock is installed
    Run 'which xlock' or 'find /usr -name xlock -o -name xlockmore' to locate the xlock binary on the system
    Affected if xlock binary is found and matches the HP Vvos 10.24 platform or is an unmodified version from that era
  2. Check the installed xlock version
    Run 'xlock -version' or 'xlock -help' to display version information. Compare the output to the affected version HP Vvos 10.24
    Affected if Version output shows HP xlock or indicates the vulnerable version
  3. Determine if xlock is accessible to users
    Check file permissions with 'ls -la /usr/X11R6/bin/xlock' or equivalent path. Verify if regular users can execute it
    Affected if xlock has world-executable permissions and is accessible to unprivileged users
  4. Check for running xlock processes
    Run 'ps aux | grep xlock' to see if xlock is currently active as a screen lock
    Affected if xlock process is running and protecting a session
  5. Identify the operating system platform
    Run 'uname -a' or check '/etc/issue' to determine the OS version and confirm if it matches HP Vvos or derivative HP-UX systems
    Affected if System is HP-UX or HP Vvos 10.24 specifically
  6. Review X server access controls
    Check xauth settings or X server access configuration to determine if remote connections to xlock are possible
    Affected if X server allows remote connections and xlock is exposed to network access

The environment is affected if xlock from HP Vvos 10.24 is installed and accessible, particularly if it can be invoked by local or remote users.

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

Replace xlock with modern alternatives such as xlockmore or native screen lockers provided by desktop environments (gnome-screensaver, kscreensaver). If xlock must be used, restrict access and ensure proper system hardening.

Fix this in Vvos 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-1999-0306 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
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