dbcve.org
IrixOperating system · Sgi

CVE-1999-0329

HIGH · 7.2 CVSS v2.0 Published 1998-06-01
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
SGI mediad program 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 confidence

The mediad program on SGI (Silicon Graphics) IRIX systems contains a vulnerability that allows any local user to gain root privileges, resulting in complete system compromise.

MitigationIf the system is still operational, disable or remove the mediad program. If mediad is required, restrict executable permissions to root only and investigate updated SGI patch bundles for IRIX.

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
IrixOperating system
Affected:= 5.1= 5.1.1= 5.2= 5.3= 6.0= 6.0.1= 6.1= 6.2= 6.3= 6.4

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. Identify the IRIX version
    Run '/usr/sbin/version' or 'uname -a' to determine the installed IRIX release
    Affected if The version output matches 5.1, 5.1.1, 5.2, 5.3, 6.0, 6.0.1, 6.1, 6.2, 6.3, or 6.4
  2. Locate the mediad binary
    Search for the mediad executable using 'find /usr -name mediad 2>/dev/null' or check common paths like '/usr/sbin/mediad'
    Affected if The mediad binary exists on the system
  3. Verify if mediad is running
    Run 'ps -ef | grep mediad' to check for active mediad processes
    Affected if A mediad process is currently running
  4. Check mediad file permissions
    Run 'ls -la /usr/sbin/mediad' (or the discovered path) to inspect ownership and permissions
    Affected if The file is owned by a non-root user or has world-writable permissions (such as o+w or o+x)

A system is affected if it runs any of the listed IRIX versions AND has the mediad binary present, regardless of whether it is actively running, since the vulnerability allows any local user to escalate to root via this program.

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

If the system is still operational, disable or remove the mediad program. If mediad is required, restrict executable permissions to root only and investigate updated SGI patch bundles for IRIX.

Fix this in Irix Scoped from the published advisory
  • Consultation2.0 h
  • Implementation1.0 h
  • Testing1.0 h
  • Review / QA1.0 h
5.0 hours of engineering $910
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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-1999-0329 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