CVE-1999-1185
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 SCO mscreen allows local users to gain root privileges via a long terminal entry (TERM) in the .mscreenrc file.
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 confidenceBuffer overflow vulnerability in SCO mscreen terminal multiplexer allows local authenticated users to execute arbitrary code with elevated (root) privileges by specifying an overly long TERM environment variable value in a user-controlled .mscreenrc configuration file.
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= 3.0= all_versions= 3.0= 3.0= 5.0= 5.0.4pCVSS 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 mscreen binaryRun 'which mscreen' or 'find /usr -name mscreen 2>/dev/null' to find the mscreen executableAffected if mscreen binary is found on the system
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Identify the mscreen versionRun 'mscreen -V' or 'mscreen -v' or check the binary with 'file /path/to/mscreen' to determine the versionAffected if version matches Sco Cmw 3.0, Sco Internet Faststart any version, Sco Open Desktop 3.0, Sco Openserver 3.0/5.0, or Sco Openserver Enterprise System 5.0.4p
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Find .mscreenrc configuration filesSearch for .mscreenrc files in user home directories with 'find /home -name .mscreenrc 2>/dev/null' or 'find / -name .mscreenrc 2>/dev/null'Affected if any .mscreenrc file exists on the system
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Check .mscreenrc file permissionsRun 'ls -la /home/*/.mscreenrc' or 'ls -la ~/*/.mscreenrc' to check write permissions on found .mscreenrc filesAffected if .mscreenrc files are writable by non-root users or untrusted accounts
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Verify if untrusted local users existCheck system user accounts with 'cat /etc/passwd' to identify non-privileged users who could invoke mscreenAffected if non-root users with shell access exist on the system and can execute mscreen
A user is affected if mscreen is installed and non-privileged users can modify or provide a .mscreenrc file to trigger the buffer overflow with an overly long TERM value.
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 dataRemove or restrict mscreen access for untrusted local users; ensure .mscreenrc files are not writable by untrusted users; consider removing legacy SCO mscreen software if no longer required; implement file permissions controls to prevent modification of .mscreenrc by non-privileged users.
- Consultation2.0 h
- Implementation4.0 h
- Testing2.0 h
- Review / QA1.0 h
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Free · runs locallyCheck whether your project pulls in CVE-1999-1185 — 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-1999-1185 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
- No weaponised exploit code, or anything meant to cause harm
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