CVE-1999-0809
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 · uneditedNetscape Communicator 4.x with Javascript enabled does not warn a user of cookie settings, even if they have selected the option to "Only accept cookies originating from the same server as the page being viewed".
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 confidenceNetscape Communicator 4.x fails to enforce user-configured cookie privacy settings when JavaScript is used to set cookies. Despite a user explicitly selecting the option to only accept cookies from the originating server, JavaScript can set third-party cookies without warning or enforcement, bypassing the user's privacy preference.
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= 4.0CVSS 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
- Partial
- Integrity
- None
- Availability
- None
AV:N/AC:L/Au:N/C:P/I:N/A:N
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 Netscape Communicator installationCheck if Netscape Communicator 4.x is installed on the system by looking for the browser executable or checking installed programs. On Windows, look for 'C:\Program Files\Netscape\Communicator\' or similar paths.Affected if Netscape Communicator 4.0 is installed and in use
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Verify browser versionLaunch Netscape Communicator and check Help > About to confirm version 4.0 specifically.Affected if Version is exactly 4.0 (other 4.x versions may also be affected but this is the confirmed affected version)
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Check cookie privacy configurationIn Netscape Communicator, go to Edit > Preferences > Privacy & Security > Cookies. Look for the setting controlling cookie acceptance.Affected if Cookie privacy is configured to 'only accept cookies from the originating server' or equivalent restrictive setting
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Check JavaScript enablementIn Netscape Communicator, go to Edit > Preferences > Advanced > Scripts & Plugins. Verify if JavaScript (or Java) is enabled.Affected if JavaScript is enabled in the browser settings
A user is affected if they run Netscape Communicator 4.0 with JavaScript enabled and have configured cookie privacy to restrict third-party cookies, as JavaScript can bypass this setting.
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 dataThis vulnerability affects an obsolete, unsupported product (Netscape Communicator 4.x). The only practical remediation is to migrate to a modern, supported web browser that properly enforces cookie privacy settings.
- Consultation1.0 h
- Review / QA1.0 h
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Scan for this in your stack
Free · runs locallyCheck whether your project pulls in CVE-1999-0809 — 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-1999-0809 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