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Windows 95Operating system · Microsoft

CVE-1999-0387

HIGH · 7.8 CVSS v2.0 Published 1999-11-29
Mitigation only
No fix yet — a mitigation exists. There is no fixed release. A documented workaround reduces exposure in the meantime.
See remediation →
87/100
Remediation priority · High
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
A legacy credential caching mechanism used in Windows 95 and Windows 98 systems allows attackers to read plaintext network passwords.

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 95 and Windows 98 systems cache network passwords in plaintext in a legacy credential storage mechanism, allowing any local user or attacker with physical access to read stored network credentials in clear text.

MitigationMigrate away from Windows 95/98 to supported operating systems; disable credential caching if continued use is unavoidable; enforce network segmentation to limit exposure.

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 95Operating system
Affected:all versions
Windows 98Operating system
Affected:all versions

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
Complete
Integrity
None
Availability
None

AV:N/AC:L/Au:N/C:C/I:N/A:N

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 'winver' from the command prompt or check System Properties to confirm the exact Windows version
    Affected if The system is running Microsoft Windows 95 or Microsoft Windows 98 (any version)
  2. Locate password cache files
    Search the Windows directory (typically C:\Windows) for .PWL files, which are password list files used by Windows 95/98 to store cached credentials
    Affected if Any .PWL files exist in the Windows directory, indicating password caching is enabled
  3. Examine cached network credentials
    Use a hex editor or text viewer to open any found .PWL files - these files may contain stored network passwords in a recoverable format
    Affected if The .PWL files contain plaintext or recoverable network passwords for shared resources, domains, or RAS connections

The environment is affected if running Windows 95 or Windows 98 with password caching enabled, as evidenced by the presence of .PWL files containing stored network credentials.

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

Migrate away from Windows 95/98 to supported operating systems; disable credential caching if continued use is unavoidable; enforce network segmentation to limit exposure.

Fix this in Windows 95 Scoped from the published advisory
  • Consultation8.0 h
  • Implementation24.0 h
  • Testing8.0 h
  • Review / QA4.0 h
44.0 hours of engineering $7,840
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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-1999-0387 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