Wu FtpdApplication · Washington University

CVE-1999-1326

MEDIUM · 5.0 CVSS v2.0 Published 1997-07-04
Mitigation only
No fix yet — a mitigation exists. There is no fixed release. A documented workaround reduces exposure in the meantime.
See remediation →
59/100
Remediation priority · Elevated
Remotely reachable 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
wu-ftpd 2.4 FTP server does not properly drop privileges when an ABOR (abort file transfer) command is executed during a file transfer, which causes a signal to be handled incorrectly and allows local and possibly remote attackers to read arbitrary files.

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

wu-ftpd 2.4 FTP server fails to properly drop privileges when an ABOR (abort) command is issued during an active file transfer. This causes incorrect signal handling that allows local and possibly remote attackers to read arbitrary files on the system.

MitigationUpgrade wu-ftpd to a patched version or migrate to a maintained FTP server implementation such as vsftpd or ProFTPD with proper privilege separation.

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
Wu FtpdApplication
Affected:= 2.4

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
Network
Complexity
Low
Authentication
None
Confidentiality
Partial
Integrity
None
Availability
None

AV:N/AC:L/Au:N/C:P/I:N/A:N

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. Check if wu-ftpd is installed
    Run 'rpm -qa | grep wu-ftpd' or 'dpkg -l | grep wu-ftpd' or check for the binary at /usr/sbin/wu-ftpd
    Affected if wu-ftpd package or binary exists on the system
  2. Verify the exact version number
    Run 'wu-ftpd -v' or check the package version via rpm/dpkg query output - look for version 2.4 exactly
    Affected if The installed version is exactly 2.4 (versions before or after may not be affected)
  3. Confirm FTP service is running
    Run 'ps aux | grep wu-ftpd' or 'systemctl status vsftpd' (note: wu-ftpd may run via inetd/xinetd, so also check 'netstat -an | grep :21' or check inetd/xinetd config)
    Affected if wu-ftpd daemon is actively running and accepting connections on port 21
  4. Check for active file transfer capability
    Review FTP server configuration (typically /etc/ftpaccess or /etc/wu-ftpd/ftpaccess) to confirm file upload/download is permitted for users
    Affected if Users can initiate active file transfers, which is required for the ABOR vulnerability to be triggerable

The system is affected if wu-ftpd version 2.4 is installed AND the FTP service is actively running, enabling an attacker who can establish an FTP session to trigger the ABOR command during a file transfer to potentially read arbitrary files.

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

Upgrade wu-ftpd to a patched version or migrate to a maintained FTP server implementation such as vsftpd or ProFTPD with proper privilege separation.

Fix this in Wu Ftpd Scoped from the published advisory
  • Consultation4.0 h
  • Implementation8.0 h
  • Testing3.0 h
  • Review / QA2.0 h
17.0 hours of engineering $3,050
Get help mitigating

An estimate, not a bill — we confirm scope with you before any work starts. Need it this week? Rush from $4,880.

Scan for this in your stack

Free · runs locally
dbcve dependency scanner

Check whether your project pulls in CVE-1999-1326 — 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 sources

Practitioner notes

Contributed

Peer-ranked notes from engineers who’ve handled CVE-1999-1326 in production — separate from our analysis above.

No notes yet

Be the first to add a field note for this CVE — a mitigation you’ve verified, a version caveat, or a link to a working fix. Sign in above to contribute.

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