dbcve.org
Windows NtOperating system · Microsoft

CVE-1999-1387

MEDIUM · 5.0 CVSS v2.0 Published 1997-04-02
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
Windows NT 4.0 SP2 allows remote attackers to cause a denial of service (crash), possibly via malformed inputs or packets, such as those generated by a Linux smbmount command that was compiled on the Linux 2.0.29 kernel but executed on Linux 2.0.25.

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

Windows NT 4.0 SP2 contains a denial of service vulnerability in its SMB (Server Message Block) implementation. Remote attackers can crash the system by sending malformed SMB packets, specifically those generated by a Linux smbmount command with a kernel version mismatch (compiled on 2.0.29 but executed on 2.0.25).

MitigationWindows NT 4.0 SP2 is obsolete and no longer supported; migrate to a modern, supported Windows version as no security patches are available for this legacy system.

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
Windows NtOperating system
Affected:= 4.0

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
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 checks

Work through these to decide whether this CVE applies to you.

  1. Verify Windows NT 4.0 is installed
    Check the operating system version by running 'winmsd' or examining the system properties. Look for 'Windows NT' version 4.0.
    Affected if The system is running Windows NT version 4.0
  2. Confirm Service Pack 2 is applied
    Check the installed Service Pack by running 'winmsd' or viewing system information. Look for SP2 specifically.
    Affected if Service Pack 2 is installed on Windows NT 4.0
  3. Verify SMB is enabled
    Check if the SMB service is running. On Windows NT 4.0, this is typically the 'Server' service. Use 'net start' or check the Services control panel.
    Affected if SMB/Server service is enabled and running
  4. Confirm network exposure to SMB ports
    Determine if the system has TCP ports 139 or 445 open to the network. Use 'netstat -an' or port scanning to check listening ports.
    Affected if Ports 139 or 445 are open and accessible from network

A system is affected if it is running Windows NT 4.0 with Service Pack 2, has SMB enabled, and has SMB ports exposed to an untrusted network.

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

Windows NT 4.0 SP2 is obsolete and no longer supported; migrate to a modern, supported Windows version as no security patches are available for this legacy system.

Fix this in Windows Nt Scoped from the published advisory
  • Consultation8.0 h
  • Implementation40.0 h
  • Testing16.0 h
  • Review / QA8.0 h
72.0 hours of engineering $12,640
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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-1999-1387 in production — separate from our analysis above.

No notes yet

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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