CVE-1999-1078
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 · uneditedWS_FTP Pro 6.0 uses weak encryption for passwords in its initialization files, which allows remote attackers to easily decrypt the passwords and gain 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 · high confidenceWS_FTP Pro 6.0 stores FTP account credentials in initialization files using weak encryption that can be trivially decrypted by attackers, enabling unauthorized access to FTP servers.
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= 6.0CVSS 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
- Partial
- Integrity
- Partial
- Availability
- Partial
AV:N/AC:L/Au:N/C:P/I:P/A:P
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.
-
Verify WS_FTP Pro versionCheck the installed version of WS_FTP client software. On Windows, this is typically found in Add/Remove Programs or by examining the executable properties of the ws_ftp.exe binary. Compare the exact version to 6.0.Affected if The installed version is exactly WS_FTP Pro 6.0 (no other versions are listed as affected in this CVE)
-
Locate initialization filesSearch for .ini or .cfg files in the WS_FTP Pro program directory and in user profile directories (such as the user's AppData folder). These configuration files commonly store connection profiles and account settings.Affected if Initialization files exist in the WS_FTP Pro installation directory or user configuration folders
-
Examine stored credentialsOpen the located initialization files with a text editor and search for fields containing usernames, passwords, or server connection details. Look for encoded or encrypted string values near server, user, or pass indicators.Affected if The initialization files contain stored FTP credentials (usernames, passwords, or server details) using weak encryption encoding
-
Assess encryption weaknessAttempt to decode the stored credential strings using common weak encoding schemes (such as base64 or simple XOR). If the passwords decode to plaintext easily, the encryption is weak.Affected if Stored credentials in the configuration files can be trivially decrypted or decoded to reveal plaintext passwords
A system is affected if WS_FTP Pro version 6.0 is installed and has FTP account credentials stored in initialization files that use weak, trivially reversible encryption.
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 to a current version of WS_FTP that uses modern password encryption, or migrate to a secure FTP client that properly protects stored credentials.
- Consultation1.0 h
- Implementation2.0 h
- Testing1.0 h
- Review / QA1.0 h
An estimate, not a bill — we confirm scope with you before any work starts. Need it this week? Rush from $1,424.
Scan for this in your stack
Free · runs locallyCheck whether your project pulls in CVE-1999-1078 — 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-1999-1078 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
Be the first to add a field note for this CVE — a mitigation you’ve verified, a version caveat, or a link to a working fix. Sign in above to contribute.
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.
- 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