CVE-1999-0439
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 · uneditedBuffer overflow in procmail before version 3.12 allows remote or local attackers to execute commands via expansions in the procmailrc configuration 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 · high confidenceBuffer overflow vulnerability in procmail versions prior to 3.12 allows attackers to execute arbitrary commands through malicious expansions in the procmailrc configuration file. This is a command injection vulnerability via configuration file parsing.
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<= 3.12all 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
- Network
- Complexity
- Low
- Authentication
- None
- Confidentiality
- Partial
- Integrity
- Partial
- Availability
- Partial
AV:N/AC:L/Au:N/C:P/I:P/A:P
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 installed procmail versionRun `procmail --version` or `procmail -v` to retrieve the version number. On systems with RPM, use `rpm -q procmail`. For Debian-based systems, check with `dpkg -l procmail`.Affected if The version displayed is 3.12 or lower, or the package is not found but procmail binary exists with unknown version.
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Locate procmailrc configuration fileCheck for the existence of procmailrc in the following locations in order of precedence: $HOME/.procmailrc, /etc/procmailrc, or /etc/procmailrc.global. Also check environment variable $PROCMAILRC if set.Affected if A procmailrc configuration file exists and is readable by the procmail process.
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Inspect procmailrc for variable expansionsExamine the procmailrc file for the presence of variable assignment lines (VAR=`command` or VAR=`formail ...`) and recipe conditions that use variable expansion syntax such as $VARIABLE or ${VARIABLE}. Look for backtick syntax `...` which executes commands.Affected if The configuration file contains variable assignments using backticks or references to external commands, or uses ENV variables derived from email headers without validation.
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Check file permissions on procmailrcUse `ls -la` on the found procmailrc file to verify owner and permission bits. Check if the file is world-readable or writable by group/others.Affected if The procmailrc file has permissions allowing modification by untrusted users (writable by group or others, or world-writable).
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Verify procmail is active as local delivery agentCheck if procmail is configured as the local delivery agent in the mail transfer agent (MTA). Inspect /etc/aliases, ~/.forward, or MTA configuration files (sendmail, postfix) for lines containing 'procmail'.Affected if Procmail is configured as a delivery pipe or LDA in aliases, forward files, or MTA configuration.
If procmail version is 3.12 or lower AND a procmailrc exists with command expansions or unsafe variable usage, the environment is affected by this vulnerability.
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 dataUpgrade procmail to version 3.12 or later. If upgrade is not possible, restrict access to the procmailrc configuration file and implement strict input validation on all email-derived data processed by procmail.
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- Review / QA1.0 h
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Scan for this in your stack
Free · runs locallyCheck whether your project pulls in CVE-1999-0439 — 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-1999-0439 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
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