CVE-1999-0486
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 · uneditedDenial of service in AOL Instant Messenger when a remote attacker sends a malicious hyperlink to the receiving client, potentially causing a system crash.
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 confidenceA denial of service vulnerability in AOL Instant Messenger allows remote attackers to crash the client application by sending a malicious hyperlink to the victim. The vulnerability is triggered when the client processes the specially crafted hyperlink, causing a system crash.
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= 3.5CVSS 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
- None
- Integrity
- None
- Availability
- Partial
AV:N/AC:L/Au:N/C:N/I:N/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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Check if AOL Instant Messenger is installedSearch for AOL Instant Messenger executable files (e.g., aim.exe, triton.exe) in common installation directories such as C:\Program Files\AOL or C:\Program Files (x86)\AOL, or use system search utilities to locate the software.Affected if AOL Instant Messenger executable files are found on the system
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Identify installed versionLocate the aim.exe or related executable, right-click and select Properties, then check the Version tab. Alternatively, check for version information in the installation folder or Add/Remove Programs.Affected if The version is listed as exactly 3.5
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Verify client is configured and activeCheck if the software has been launched or configured to run on system startup. Look for AIM-related processes in Task Manager or startup entries in the registry.Affected if AOL Instant Messenger version 3.5 is present and capable of processing incoming messages
The system is affected if AOL Instant Messenger version 3.5 is installed and can process incoming messages containing hyperlinks.
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 dataSince AOL Instant Messenger is obsolete and no longer supported, the primary remediation is to discontinue use of the software and ensure it is removed from all systems. No vendor patch is available for this 1999-era vulnerability.
- Consultation1.0 h
- Implementation2.0 h
- Testing1.0 h
- Review / QA1.0 h
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Free · runs locallyCheck whether your project pulls in CVE-1999-0486 — 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-1999-0486 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