LinuxOperating system · Redhat
CVE-1999-1186
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 · uneditedrxvt, when compiled with the PRINT_PIPE option in various Linux operating systems including Linux Slackware 3.0 and RedHat 2.1, allows local users to gain root privileges by specifying a malicious program using the -print-pipe command line parameter.
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 confidencerxvt terminal emulator, when compiled with the PRINT_PIPE option and running with elevated privileges (setuid root), allows local users to execute arbitrary code by specifying a malicious program via the -print-pipe command line parameter, enabling privilege escalation to root.
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
LinuxOperating system
= 2.1all versions= 3.0CVSS 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
- 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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Check if rxvt is installedRun 'which rxvt' or 'rpm -q rxvt' (RedHat) / 'pkgtool' (Slackware) to locate the rxvt binaryAffected if rxvt binary exists on the system
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Verify rxvt has setuid permissionsRun 'ls -l $(which rxvt)' and check for 's' in the owner execute field (e.g., '-rwsr-xr-x'), indicating the setuid bit is setAffected if The rxvt binary shows setuid permissions (owner permissions include 's' instead of 'x')
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Confirm rxvt runs with root privilegesExecute 'ls -l $(which rxvt)' and verify the owner is root, then run 'id' to check current user context - the exploit requires a non-root user to leverage the setuid binaryAffected if rxvt is owned by root with setuid bit, and the current user is not root
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Check for PRINT_PIPE functionalityRun 'rxvt --help 2>&1 | grep -i print' or check rxvt documentation/man page for -print-pipe option availability; alternatively, examine the binary with 'strings' for PRINT_PIPE related stringsAffected if The -print-pipe option is available and functional in the installed rxvt version
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Identify system version contextCheck if running legacy systems: 'uname -a' and/or check /etc/redhat-release (RedHat) or /etc/slackware-version (Slackware)Affected if System is RedHat Linux 2.1 or Slackware Linux 3.0, or rxvt version is identified as an older release from circa 1996-1999
A user is affected if rxvt is installed with setuid root permissions, compiled with PRINT_PIPE enabled, and a non-root user can execute rxvt with the -print-pipe parameter to escalate 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 dataRemove the setuid bit from rxvt binary or replace with a modern terminal emulator that doesn't require elevated privileges; upgrading from these legacy Linux systems (Slackware 3.0, RedHat 2.1) is strongly recommended.
Fix this in Linux
Scoped from the published advisory
- Consultation2.0 h
- Implementation1.0 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 $1,456.
Scan for this in your stack
Free · runs locallyCheck whether your project pulls in CVE-1999-1186 — 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-1999-1186 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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