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Windows NtOperating system · Microsoft

CVE-1999-0898

HIGH · 7.2 CVSS v2.0 Published 1999-11-04
Mitigation only
No fix yet — a mitigation exists. There is no fixed release. A documented workaround reduces exposure in the meantime.
See remediation →
77/100
Remediation priority · High
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 overflows in Windows NT 4.0 print spooler allow remote attackers to gain privileges or cause a denial of service via a malformed spooler request.

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 Windows NT 4.0 print spooler service allows remote attackers to send malformed spooler requests, potentially executing arbitrary code with elevated privileges or causing a denial of service condition.

MitigationApply available Microsoft patches for this vulnerability or disable the print spooler service if printing functionality is not required on affected systems.

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
Windows NtOperating system
Affected:= 4.0

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
Local
Complexity
Low
Authentication
None
Confidentiality
Complete
Integrity
Complete
Availability
Complete

AV:L/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. Confirm the operating system version
    Verify the system is running Windows NT 4.0 by checking system properties or using commands like winver or systeminfo
    Affected if The operating system is Windows NT 4.0
  2. Identify print spooler service status
    Check if the Print Spooler service (spooler) is running or enabled on the system using Service Control Manager, net start command, or sc query spooler
    Affected if The Print Spooler service is running or enabled on Windows NT 4.0
  3. Assess network exposure of print spooler
    Determine if the print spooler service is bound to network interfaces and accepting remote connections (the vulnerability allows remote exploitation via malformed requests)
    Affected if The print spooler service is network-accessible on Windows NT 4.0

A system is affected if it is running Windows NT 4.0 with the Print Spooler service enabled and accessible to network requests

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

Apply available Microsoft patches for this vulnerability or disable the print spooler service if printing functionality is not required on affected systems.

Fix this in Windows Nt 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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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-1999-0898 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