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Debian LinuxOperating system · Debian

CVE-1999-0832

HIGH · 10.0 CVSS v2.0 Published 1999-11-09
Mitigation only
No fix yet — a mitigation exists. There is no fixed release. A documented workaround reduces exposure in the meantime.
See remediation →
100/100
Remediation priority · Urgent
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 NFS server on Linux allows attackers to execute commands via a long pathname.

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 the NFS server implementation on Linux allows remote attackers to execute arbitrary commands by sending a specially crafted long pathname, potentially giving them complete control over the affected system.

MitigationDisable or restrict NFS server access to trusted networks only, apply available security patches for the specific Linux distribution and NFS version, and implement proper firewall rules to limit exposure.

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
Debian LinuxOperating system
Affected:= 2.1
LinuxOperating system
Affected:= 5.2

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
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 checks

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

  1. Check if NFS server is running
    Run 'ps aux | grep nfsd' or 'rpcinfo -p' to see if the NFS daemon (nfsd) is active and listening
    Affected if NFS server daemon is running and serving filesystems to remote clients
  2. Identify the Linux distribution version
    Check /etc/redhat-release for Red Hat or /etc/debian_version for Debian, or run 'uname -a'
    Affected if System is running Debian Linux 2.1 or Red Hat Linux 5.2 specifically
  3. Verify NFS server package version
    Check the installed nfs-server or nfs-utils package version using 'rpm -q nfs-server' on Red Hat or 'dpkg -l nfs-server' on Debian
    Affected if The NFS server package version matches the vulnerable Debian 2.1 or Redhat 5.2 releases
  4. Confirm NFS export configuration
    Examine /etc/exports to see which directories are being shared via NFS
    Affected if NFS server is actively exporting directories to the network (indicates the vulnerable service is in use)

System is affected only if it is running the NFS server daemon on Debian 2.1 or Redhat Linux 5.2 with NFS exports configured and accessible to the network.

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.

dbcve · scoped
Mitigation available No clean upgrade yet — mitigate in the meantime
Mitigation

Disable or restrict NFS server access to trusted networks only, apply available security patches for the specific Linux distribution and NFS version, and implement proper firewall rules to limit exposure.

Recommended fix Moderate confidence

Modern supported Linux distribution (e.g., Debian 12, Ubuntu 24.04, RHEL 9, or similar current stable release with kernel 5.x or 6.x)

  1. 1. Identify the NFS server package currently in use (e.g., nfs-kernel-server on Debian-based systems)
  2. 2. Back up all NFS export configurations in /etc/exports
  3. 3. Upgrade the entire Linux distribution to a modern, supported version. This vulnerability from 1999 has been fixed in all modern kernel versions
  4. 4. Install updated NFS server packages from the modern distribution repositories
  5. 5. Restore the NFS export configurations from the backup
  6. 6. Restart the NFS server service and verify it is running
  7. 7. Test NFS mounts to ensure functionality
Caveat Full system upgrade may require migration planning; older hardware may not support modern OS; custom configurations may need adjustment

Generated from the published advisory — verify against the referenced sources before acting.

Fix this in Debian Linux Scoped from the published advisory
  • Consultation2.0 h
  • Implementation4.0 h
  • Testing3.0 h
  • Review / QA1.0 h
10.0 hours of engineering $1,750
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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-1999-0832 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
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