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WorkstationApplication · VMware

CVE-1999-0733

HIGH · 7.2 CVSS v2.0 Published 1999-06-26
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
Buffer overflow in VMWare 1.0.1 for Linux via a long HOME environmental variable.

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

Buffer overflow vulnerability in VMware 1.0.1 for Linux that can be triggered by setting an excessively long HOME environment variable, potentially allowing local privilege escalation due to the overflow on the stack.

MitigationSince VMware 1.0.1 is extremely outdated (1999), migrate to a supported virtualization platform or modern version; as a local privilege escalation vector, ensure untrusted users cannot set arbitrary environment variables in contexts where VMware executes.

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
WorkstationApplication
Affected:= 1.0.1

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 if VMware Workstation is installed
    Run 'rpm -q vmware-workstation' or check for /usr/bin/vmware or /usr/local/bin/vmware executable
    Affected if VMware Workstation is not installed on the system
  2. Determine installed VMware Workstation version
    Run 'vmware --version' or 'vmware-workstation --version' or check /usr/bin/vmware --version
    Affected if The version shown is 1.0.1 exactly
  3. Verify VMware process execution context
    Check if untrusted users can invoke VMware or trigger its execution with custom environment variables, for example by reviewing sudoers rules or systemd service configurations that run VMware
    Affected if Untrusted users can execute VMware with controlled environment variables including HOME
  4. Check HOME environment variable handling
    Review how the HOME variable is set and whether it can be influenced by local users before VMware execution (look at shell profiles, PAM settings, or application wrappers)
    Affected if The HOME variable can be set to arbitrary values by local users prior to VMware launching

You are affected only if VMware Workstation version 1.0.1 is installed AND untrusted local users can influence the HOME environment variable in contexts where VMware executes.

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

Since VMware 1.0.1 is extremely outdated (1999), migrate to a supported virtualization platform or modern version; as a local privilege escalation vector, ensure untrusted users cannot set arbitrary environment variables in contexts where VMware executes.

Fix this in Workstation Scoped from the published advisory
  • Consultation4.0 h
  • Implementation16.0 h
  • Testing4.0 h
  • Review / QA2.0 h
26.0 hours of engineering $4,640
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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-1999-0733 in production — separate from our analysis above.

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What this is

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What belongs here
  • Verified mitigations, workarounds, and config changes
  • Version or environment caveats, and links to real fixes
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