CVE-1999-0942
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 · uneditedUnixWare dos7utils allows a local user to gain root privileges by using the STATICMERGE environmental variable to find a script which it executes.
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 confidenceIn UnixWare 7, the dosutils package contains a vulnerability where the STATICMERGE environment variable can be manipulated to specify an alternate path for a script that gets executed with elevated privileges, allowing a local unprivileged user to gain root access.
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= 7.1CVSS 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 checksWork through these to decide whether this CVE applies to you.
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Identify the UnixWare versionRun 'uname -a' or check /etc/os-release to confirm the exact UnixWare version. The vulnerability affects only UnixWare 7.1.Affected if The system is running UnixWare 7.1 exactly
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Check if dosutils package is installedRun 'pkginfo -l dosutils' or 'rpm -qa | grep dosutils' to list installed dosutils package files. Alternatively, check for common dosutils binaries like 'dosdir' or 'dosformat' in /usr/bin or /usr/sbin.Affected if The dosutils package is installed on the system
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Verify dosutils is executable by unprivileged usersRun 'ls -la /usr/bin/dos*' or 'ls -la /usr/sbin/dos*' to check permissions. Also test running a dosutils command as a non-root user: 'su - nonrootuser -c "which dosdir"'.Affected if Dosutils binaries are accessible and executable by unprivileged (non-root) users
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Examine dosutils scripts for STATICMERGE usageInspect dosutils scripts for references to STATICMERGE environment variable, typically found in /usr/lib/dosutils or within the package scripts. Use 'grep -r STATICMERGE /usr/lib/dosutils' or within the package directory.Affected if Scripts reference STATICMERGE environment variable without sanitization, allowing path manipulation
The system is affected if it runs UnixWare 7.1 with the dosutils package installed and executable by unprivileged users, where the STATICMERGE variable can be manipulated to control script execution paths.
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 dataApply any available vendor patches for UnixWare 7 dosutils; if patches are unavailable, disable or remove the dosutils package, or restrict execution permissions to prevent unprivileged user access.
- Consultation2.0 h
- Implementation4.0 h
- Testing2.0 h
- Review / QA1.0 h
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Scan for this in your stack
Free · runs locallyCheck whether your project pulls in CVE-1999-0942 — 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-1999-0942 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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- Version or environment caveats, and links to real fixes
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