CVE-1999-0746
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 · uneditedA default configuration of in.identd in SuSE Linux waits 120 seconds between requests, allowing a remote attacker to conduct a denial of service.
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 confidenceThe in.identd service in SuSE Linux default configuration imposes a 120-second delay between processing requests. A remote attacker can flood the service with connection requests, each taking 120 seconds to process, exhausting available connections and causing denial of service.
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= 3.2= 3.6= 4.4= 4.4.1= 5.0= 5.1= 5.2= 5.3= 6.0= 6.1= 6.2CVSS 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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Verify if the identd service is runningCheck running processes for in.identd or identd daemon. On these systems, you can use 'ps aux | grep identd' or check /proc for the process.Affected if The identd daemon (in.identd) is running and accepting connections on port 113.
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Check the installed version of the identd packageUse the system package manager to query the installed version. On Suse systems this would be 'rpm -q identd' or similar. On Slackware, check the installed package version.Affected if The installed version matches or falls within the affected Slackware 3.2, 3.6 or Suse 4.4 through 6.2 ranges.
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Inspect the identd configuration for delay settingsExamine the identd configuration files (typically in /etc or /etc/identd) for any timeout or delay parameters. Look for settings controlling the response delay between requests.Affected if A 120-second delay or wait period is configured in the identd configuration.
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Confirm port 113 is listening and accepting connectionsCheck if port 113 (the ident port) is in a listening state using 'netstat -an | grep 113' or 'ss -an | grep 113'.Affected if Port 113 is open and the service is accessible over the network.
A system is affected if it runs a version of in.identd from the specified Slackware or Suse versions AND the service is actively listening with the default 120-second processing delay still in place.
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 dataReconfigure in.identd to remove or significantly reduce the 120-second wait period, or disable the service if not required, to prevent resource exhaustion.
- Consultation2.0 h
- Implementation2.0 h
- Testing2.0 h
- Review / QA1.0 h
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Scan for this in your stack
Free · runs locallyCheck whether your project pulls in CVE-1999-0746 — 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-1999-0746 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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- Verified mitigations, workarounds, and config changes
- Version or environment caveats, and links to real fixes
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