CVE-1999-0765
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 · uneditedSGI IRIX midikeys program allows local users to modify arbitrary files via a text editor.
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 confidenceThe SGI IRIX midikeys program contains a vulnerability allowing local users to modify arbitrary files on the system through an integrated text editor function, effectively enabling privilege escalation or unauthorized file manipulation.
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= 6.0CVSS 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
- Complete
- Availability
- Complete
AV:N/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 checksWork through these to decide whether this CVE applies to you.
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Identify the operating system versionRun 'uname -a' or check /etc/issue to confirm the system is running SGI IRIXAffected if The system is running SGI IRIX version 6.0 exactly (not a later patched version)
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Locate the midikeys binarySearch for the midikeys executable using 'which midikeys' or 'find / -name midikeys -type f 2>/dev/null'Affected if The midikeys program exists on the system
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Check midikeys file permissionsRun 'ls -la' on the midikeys binary to examine owner, group, and world execute permissionsAffected if Regular (non-root) users have execute permission on the midikeys binary
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Verify if midikeys has setuid privilegesCheck the file permissions for the setuid bit using 'ls -la' or examine the binary with 'file' commandAffected if The midikeys binary has the setuid bit set (shows 's' in permissions) and is owned by root
A user is affected if they run SGI IRIX 6.0 and the midikeys program is present with executable permissions for local users, enabling the integrated text editor function to be exploited for arbitrary file modification.
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 dataApply vendor patches for SGI IRIX; if patches are unavailable due to system age, disable the midikeys program or restrict local user access to prevent exploitation.
- Consultation2.0 h
- Implementation4.0 h
- Testing3.0 h
- Review / QA1.0 h
An estimate, not a bill — we confirm scope with you before any work starts. Need it this week? Rush from $2,800.
Scan for this in your stack
Free · runs locallyCheck whether your project pulls in CVE-1999-0765 — 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-1999-0765 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
- No weaponised exploit code, or anything meant to cause harm
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