CVE-1999-0311
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 · uneditedfpkg2swpk in HP-UX allows local users to gain 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 · moderate confidencefpkg2swpk, a package conversion utility in HP-UX, contains a flaw allowing local unprivileged users to escalate privileges to root. The vulnerability is exploitable by local users who can execute the utility and manipulate its execution context to gain elevated system privileges.
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= 10CVSS 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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Identify the operating system versionRun 'uname -a' or '/usr/bin/uname -a' to display system information. Look for 'HP-UX' in the output and note the version number.Affected if The system is running HP-UX version 10.x
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Locate the fpkg2swpk binaryRun 'find / -name fpkg2swpk -type f 2>/dev/null' or check common binary directories such as /usr/sbin/, /opt/, and /usr/bin/ for the fpkg2swpk executable.Affected if The fpkg2swpk utility is present on the system
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Verify file permissions on fpkg2swpkRun 'ls -la <path_to_fpkg2swpk>' to display ownership and permission bits. Check if the file is world-executable or group-executable by non-root users.Affected if The binary has execute permissions for non-root users (world-executable or group-executable)
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Check if unprivileged users can execute the utilityAs a non-root user, attempt to run 'fpkg2swpk' or check if the binary is accessible in a directory searchable by unprivileged users.Affected if Unprivileged local users can locate and attempt to execute fpkg2swpk
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Determine if the system has HP patches appliedRun '/usr/sbin/swlist -l product' to list installed HP-UX patches and products. Look for any patches specifically addressing fpkg2swpk or privilege escalation vulnerabilities.Affected if No relevant HP patches for this vulnerability are installed, or the patch status cannot be verified
A user is affected if the system runs HP-UX 10, has the fpkg2swpk utility present with executable permissions accessible to unprivileged local users, and lacks the relevant vendor patches.
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 HP patches for HP-UX; if patches unavailable or system is EOL, restrict local shell access to untrusted users and consider system isolation or retirement. Verify file permissions on fpkg2swpk and related binaries.
- Consultation4.0 h
- Implementation2.0 h
- Testing3.0 h
- Review / QA2.0 h
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Scan for this in your stack
Free · runs locallyCheck whether your project pulls in CVE-1999-0311 — 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-1999-0311 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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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.
- 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