CVE-1999-1305
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 · uneditedVulnerability in "at" program in SCO UNIX 4.2 and earlier allows local users to gain root access.
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 confidenceLocal privilege escalation vulnerability in the 'at' job scheduler in SCO UNIX 4.2 and earlier allows unprivileged local users to gain root access. The vulnerability stems from improper privilege handling in the at program, likely due to race conditions or insufficient input validation when executing scheduled tasks.
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= 2.0= 3.0= 3.0= 3.0= 3.0<= 4.2= 3.2= 4.0= 4.1CVSS 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
- 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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Identify SCO UNIX versionRun 'uname -a' or check /etc/osrelease or /etc/issue to determine the exact SCO UNIX version. Also check 'uname -v' for the release version.Affected if The version matches SCO Open Desktop 2.0, 3.0, Open Desktop Lite 3.0, Openserver Enterprise/Network System 3.0, or SCO Unix versions 3.2, 4.0, 4.1, or 4.2 or earlier.
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Verify 'at' package is installedCheck if the at binary exists using 'ls -la /usr/bin/at' or 'which at'. Also verify the at daemon exists with 'ls -la /usr/sbin/atd' or similar path.Affected if The 'at' command is present on the system.
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Confirm at daemon is runningCheck for running atd processes using 'ps -ef | grep atd' or check /etc/rc files for at daemon startup entries.Affected if The at daemon (atd) is enabled and running on the system.
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Examine at binary file permissionsRun 'ls -la /usr/bin/at' and check ownership and permissions. Look for world-writable permissions or unusual ownership.Affected if The at binary has permissive permissions (world-writable) or unexpected ownership that could be exploited.
The system is likely affected if it runs any of the specified SCO UNIX versions (3.2, 4.0, 4.1, 4.2 or earlier, or the listed Open Desktop/Openserver versions) and has the at utility installed and enabled.
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 dataGiven the age of the affected system (SCO UNIX 4.2, circa 1990s), direct patching is not viable; the system should be decommissioned or fully isolated from network access. If the system remains operational, implement compensating controls such as strict file permissions on /usr/bin/at, limiting at daemon access to authorized users only, and consider migrating to a supported operating system.
- Consultation4.0 h
- Implementation8.0 h
- Testing4.0 h
- Review / QA2.0 h
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Scan for this in your stack
Free · runs locallyCheck whether your project pulls in CVE-1999-1305 — 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-1999-1305 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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