AixOperating system · Ibm

CVE-1999-0835

HIGH · 10.0 CVSS v2.0 Published 1999-11-10
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
Denial of service in BIND named via malformed SIG records.

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 denial of service vulnerability exists in BIND named DNS server where malformed SIG (signature) records can cause the server to crash or become unresponsive. The vulnerability allows remote attackers to send specially crafted DNS responses containing malformed SIG records to trigger the DoS condition.

MitigationUpgrade to a patched version of BIND or migrate to a supported DNS server solution. For legacy systems, consider implementing network-level filtering to block malformed DNS records.

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
AixOperating system
Affected:= 4.3
OpenserverOperating system
Affected:= 5
UnixwareOperating system
Affected:= 2= 7
SunosOperating system
Affected:= 5.7

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. Identify if BIND named is running
    Run 'ps -ef | grep named' or 'ps -aux | grep named' to check if the named/BIND process is currently active on the system
    Affected if named process is not running (not affected)
  2. Determine BIND version
    Run 'named -v' or 'named -V' to display the BIND version, or check the package version using the system's package manager (rpm, pkg, lslpp for AIX)
    Affected if Version matches affected ranges: IBM AIX 4.3, SCO OpenServer 5, SCO UnixWare 2 or 7, or Sun Solaris 5.7 with BIND vulnerable versions
  3. Check DNS service exposure
    Review network configuration: run 'netstat -an | grep :53' or check firewall rules to determine if port 53 (DNS) is listening on external interfaces
    Affected if DNS service is listening on external/public network interfaces (wider attack surface)
  4. Verify recursive query configuration
    Check the named.conf configuration file for 'allow-recursion' or 'allow-query' directives to see if recursive queries are permitted from untrusted networks
    Affected if Recursive queries are allowed from any or untrusted networks, making the server vulnerable to crafted responses

The environment is affected if BIND named is running on any of the listed product versions (IBM AIX 4.3, SCO OpenServer 5, SCO UnixWare 2/7, Sun Solaris 5.7) and the DNS service is accessible to network attackers who could send malformed SIG records.

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

Upgrade to a patched version of BIND or migrate to a supported DNS server solution. For legacy systems, consider implementing network-level filtering to block malformed DNS records.

Recommended fix Moderate confidence

BIND 9.18.x or newer on a supported OS (the affected OS versions AIX 4.3, SunOS 5.7, OpenServer 5, UnixWare 2/7 are all end-of-life)

  1. 1. Identify the current BIND version installed: `named -v` or `rpm -q bind`
  2. 2. For the affected legacy systems (AIX 4.3, OpenServer 5, UnixWare 2/7, SunOS 5.7), note these operating systems are end-of-life and no longer receive security updates
  3. 3. If possible, migrate to a supported operating system that can run modern BIND 9.x
  4. 4. Install a supported BIND version (BIND 9.18.x or 9.20.x) on the new system
  5. 5. If migration is not possible, consider implementing network-level filtering to block malformed DNS SIG records
  6. 6. Use firewall rules to limit DNS traffic to trusted sources only
Caveat Legacy applications designed for old AIX 4.3, SunOS 5.7, OpenServer 5, or UnixWare 2/7 may not function on modern OS; full system migration required

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

Fix this in Aix Scoped from the published advisory
  • Consultation2.0 h
  • Implementation8.0 h
  • Testing4.0 h
  • Review / QA2.0 h
16.0 hours of engineering $2,800
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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-1999-0835 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