CVE-1999-0948
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 · uneditedBuffer overflow in uum program for Canna input system allows local users to gain root privileges.
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 confidenceBuffer overflow vulnerability in the uum program (Canna input method user utility) allows unprivileged local users to execute arbitrary code with root privileges. The overflow occurs in the uum binary which handles Japanese character input conversion through the Canna daemon.
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= 5.3= 6.2= 6.3= 6.4= 6.5= 2.6= 7.0all versions= 5.7= 4.2CVSS 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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Locate the uum binaryRun 'find / -name uum -type f 2>/dev/null' to search for the uum executable in the filesystemAffected if The uum binary exists on the system, indicating Canna input method is installed
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Check uum binary permissionsRun 'ls -la /path/to/uum' (replace /path/to/uum with the path found in step 1) to check if the binary has setuid root permissionsAffected if The uum binary is setuid root (permissions show -rwsr-xr-x or similar with owner 'root'), which is required for the privilege escalation to work
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Identify the Canna package versionQuery the package manager for Canna (e.g., 'rpm -q canna' on RPM-based systems, 'pkginfo -l CANNA' on Solaris, or check installed files for version strings with 'uum -v' or 'uum -V' if available)Affected if The installed Canna version matches any of the affected versions or the uum binary is present on an affected OS (SGI Irix 5.3-6.5, Solaris 2.6-7.0, SunOS all versions, Turbolinux 4.2)
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Verify operating system versionRun 'uname -a' or 'cat /etc/release' (Solaris) to determine the exact OS versionAffected if The system runs SGI Irix 5.3, 6.2, 6.3, 6.4, or 6.5; Sun Solaris 2.6 or 7.0; SunOS any version or 5.7; or Turbolinux 4.2
The system is affected if the uum binary exists with setuid root permissions AND the OS version matches one of the affected versions listed in the CVE, allowing local unprivileged users to potentially execute arbitrary code with root privileges.
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 dataUpgrade Canna to patched version, or migrate to modern input method framework (SCIM, IBus) as Canna is deprecated. If Canna must remain in use, restrict local user access to systems containing this vulnerable software.
- Consultation4.0 h
- Implementation8.0 h
- Testing3.0 h
- Review / QA2.0 h
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Scan for this in your stack
Free · runs locallyCheck whether your project pulls in CVE-1999-0948 — 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-1999-0948 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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- Verified mitigations, workarounds, and config changes
- Version or environment caveats, and links to real fixes
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