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Debian LinuxOperating system · Debian

CVE-1999-1182

HIGH · 7.2 CVSS v2.0 Published 1997-07-17
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 overflow in run-time linkers (1) ld.so or (2) ld-linux.so for Linux systems allows local users to gain privileges by calling a setuid program with a long program name (argv[0]) and forcing ld.so/ld-linux.so to report an error.

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 confidence

Buffer overflow in Linux runtime linkers (ld.so/ld-linux.so) allows local users to escalate privileges by executing setuid programs with an overly long program name (argv[0]), causing the dynamic linker to overflow a buffer when reporting errors.

MitigationApply vendor-supplied patches for this glibc vulnerability; modern Linux distributions have long since addressed this issue via glibc updates. Verify systems are running current, supported glibc versions.

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
Debian LinuxOperating system
Affected:= 4.0
LinuxOperating system
Affected:= 4.0= 4.1= 4.2
DldApplication
Affected:= 5.2
Openlinux LiteOperating system
Affected:= 1.1
Lst Power LinuxOperating system
Affected:= 2.2
Suse LinuxOperating system
Affected:= 5.0

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. Identify installed glibc version
    Run `ldd --version` or `rpm -q glibc` (Red Hat) / `dpkg -l libc6` (Debian) to determine the glibc version installed on the system.
    Affected if The glibc version matches one of the affected distributions (Debian 4.0, Red Hat 4.0-4.2, Delix Dld 5.2, Caldera Openlinux Lite 1.1, Lst Lst Power Linux 2.2, Suse Linux 5.0) or is otherwise older than vendor-patched versions.
  2. Check dynamic linker version
    Run `ldd -v` or inspect `/lib/ld-linux.so.2` (or `/lib/ld.so` on older systems) to identify the linker version.
    Affected if The linker version corresponds to the affected glibc versions from 1999-era distributions.
  3. Verify system distribution and version
    Run `uname -a` and check the OS release file (e.g., `/etc/debian_version`, `/etc/redhat-release`, `/etc/SuSE-release`) to identify the exact distribution version.
    Affected if The system is running any of the explicitly affected versions: Debian 4.0, Red Hat 4.0/4.1/4.2, Delix Dld 5.2, Caldera Openlinux Lite 1.1, Lst Lst Power Linux 2.2, or Suse Linux 5.0.
  4. Test for argv[0] handling in setuid programs
    Create a test script with an extremely long name (exceeding typical buffer sizes) and execute it as a setuid binary to observe if the dynamic linker produces unexpected error behavior. Note: This is a destructive test and should only be performed in an isolated test environment.
    Affected if The linker crashes, segfaults, or exhibits unexpected behavior when processing setuid binaries with overly long argv[0] values, indicating the buffer overflow is present.

A system is affected if it runs an unpatched 1999-era Linux distribution (Debian 4.0, Red Hat 4.x, or equivalent) with a vulnerable glibc/ld.so version that does not properly bounds-check argv[0] in error reporting paths for setuid program execution.

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 vendor-supplied patches for this glibc vulnerability; modern Linux distributions have long since addressed this issue via glibc updates. Verify systems are running current, supported glibc versions.

Fix this in Debian Linux Scoped from the published advisory
  • Consultation1.0 h
  • Implementation2.0 h
  • Testing1.0 h
  • Review / QA1.0 h
5.0 hours of engineering $890
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Scan for this in your stack

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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-1999-1182 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