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SambaApplication

CVE-1999-0811

MEDIUM · 5.0 CVSS v2.0 Published 1999-07-21
Mitigation only
No fix yet — a mitigation exists. There is no fixed release. A documented workaround reduces exposure in the meantime.
See remediation →
59/100
Remediation priority · Elevated
Remotely reachable 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 Samba smbd program via a malformed message command.

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

A buffer overflow vulnerability exists in the Samba smbd daemon (versions prior to fixes) due to improper handling of malformed message commands. An attacker could send specially crafted packets to the smbd service to potentially execute arbitrary code or cause a denial of service. This vulnerability affects the SMB file and print sharing service commonly found on Unix/Linux systems.

MitigationUpgrade to a current, supported version of Samba that includes security patches, or apply vendor-supplied patches for older supported versions. If running legacy systems, consider network segmentation to limit exposure of the smbd 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
SambaApplication
Affected:= 2.0.4

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
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 checks

Work through these to decide whether this CVE applies to you.

  1. Verify smbd daemon is running
    Run command: ps aux | grep smbd or systemctl status smb (depending on system)
    Affected if smbd process is not running, the vulnerability cannot be exploited
  2. Determine installed Samba version
    Run: smbd --version or rpm -q samba or dpkg -l | grep samba
    Affected if version shown is 2.0.4 or any version prior to fixes (earlier than patched 2.0.x releases)
  3. Confirm smbd network exposure
    Check if port 445/139 is listening and accessible: netstat -tlnp | grep -E '139|445' or nmap -p 139,445 localhost
    Affected if smbd is listening on accessible network ports, making it remotely exploitable

You are affected if the smbd daemon is running and the installed Samba version is 2.0.4 or earlier.

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

Upgrade to a current, supported version of Samba that includes security patches, or apply vendor-supplied patches for older supported versions. If running legacy systems, consider network segmentation to limit exposure of the smbd service.

Fix this in Samba Scoped from the published advisory
  • Consultation2.0 h
  • Implementation4.0 h
  • Testing2.0 h
  • Review / QA1.0 h
9.0 hours of engineering $1,600
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An estimate, not a bill — we confirm scope with you before any work starts. Need it this week? Rush from $2,560.

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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-1999-0811 in production — separate from our analysis above.

No notes yet

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What this is

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.

What belongs here
  • 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