CVE-1999-1265
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 · uneditedSMTP server in SLmail 3.1 and earlier allows remote attackers to cause a denial of service via malformed commands whose arguments begin with a "(" (parenthesis) character, such as (1) SEND, (2) VRFY, (3) EXPN, (4) MAIL FROM, (5) RCPT TO.
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 confidenceThe SMTP server in SLmail 3.1 and earlier contains a denial-of-service vulnerability triggered by malformed commands (SEND, VRFY, EXPN, MAIL FROM, RCPT TO) whose arguments begin with a '(' parenthesis character. This indicates a parsing error in handling malformed input that causes the service to crash or become unresponsive.
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<= 3.1CVSS 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
- None
- Integrity
- None
- Availability
- Partial
AV:N/AC:L/Au:N/C:N/I:N/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.
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Verify SLmail is installedCheck for SLmail installation directories (typical paths: C:\Program Files\SLmail or C:\SLmail) or look for the SLmail service in Windows Services. Also check registry keys under HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\SLmail.Affected if SLmail software is found on the system
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Determine the installed SLmail versionOpen the SLmail installation directory and locate version information in the executable properties (right-click slmail.exe, select Properties, check Details tab) or check the program's About dialog.Affected if Version is 3.1 or earlier
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Confirm SMTP service is runningOpen Windows Services (services.msc) and verify the SLmail SMTP service status, or check if port 25 is listening using command: netstat -an | findstr :25Affected if SLmail SMTP service is active and listening on port 25
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Test for vulnerability conditionIf SLmail version <= 3.1 is confirmed and SMTP is running, the environment meets the affected condition. The specific trigger involves sending malformed SMTP commands (SEND, VRFY, EXPN, MAIL FROM, RCPT TO) with arguments beginning with a '(' character.Affected if Running SLmail version 3.1 or earlier with SMTP service enabled
A system is affected if SLmail version 3.1 or earlier is installed and the SMTP service is running, as the vulnerability exists in that specific version range.
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 newer version of SLmail that addresses this vulnerability; if no patched version is available, migrate to a supported mail server solution. Apply network-level filtering as a temporary workaround to block malformed SMTP commands.
- Consultation2.0 h
- Implementation4.0 h
- Testing3.0 h
- Review / QA2.0 h
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Free · runs locallyCheck whether your project pulls in CVE-1999-1265 — 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-1999-1265 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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