CVE-1999-1433
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 · uneditedHP JetAdmin D.01.09 on Solaris allows local users to change the permissions of arbitrary files via a symlink attack on the /tmp/jetadmin.log file.
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 confidenceHP JetAdmin D.01.09 on Solaris is vulnerable to a symlink attack via /tmp/jetadmin.log. A local user can create a symbolic link from /tmp/jetadmin.log to an arbitrary target file before the application runs. When JetAdmin executes (with elevated privileges), it follows the symlink and changes permissions on the target file, potentially allowing privilege escalation.
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= rev._d.01.09CVSS 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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Determine if HP JetAdmin is installedLocate the JetAdmin binary. Common paths on Solaris include /opt/hp/jetadmin/ or check with 'which hpnp' or 'ls -la /opt' for hp-related directories. Also check 'pkginfo | grep -i jet' if available.Affected if HP JetAdmin binary is found on the system
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Check the installed JetAdmin versionRun the JetAdmin binary with version flags such as 'hpnp -V', 'hpnpadmin -V', or check the binary directly with 'strings' or 'what' command. The affected version is D.01.09.Affected if The installed version is exactly D.01.09 (rev._d.01.09)
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Verify if /tmp/jetadmin.log exists and is a symlinkRun 'ls -la /tmp/jetadmin.log' to check if the file exists and whether it is a symbolic link. Also check 'file /tmp/jetadmin.log' to confirm the file type.Affected if The file /tmp/jetadmin.log exists as a symbolic link pointing to an unintended target, or has unusual ownership/permissions indicating exploitation
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Check ownership and permissions of /tmp directoryRun 'ls -lad /tmp' to verify /tmp has restricted permissions (typically 1777 with sticky bit). Check if untrusted users can create files in /tmp.Affected if The /tmp directory allows untrusted users to create symlinks (permissions are overly permissive or sticky bit is missing)
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Identify if JetAdmin runs with elevated privilegesCheck the permissions of the JetAdmin binary with 'ls -la <path_to_jetadmin>' and check if it has setuid/setgid bits. Also examine /etc/permissions or similar privilege assignment files on Solaris.Affected if JetAdmin runs with root or elevated privileges (has setuid bit set or runs as root user)
A system is affected if HP JetAdmin version D.01.09 is installed, runs with elevated privileges, and the /tmp directory permits untrusted users to create symlinks, allowing a symlink at /tmp/jetadmin.log to be exploited.
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 HP JetAdmin to a patched version if available, or implement filesystem-level controls such as mounting /tmp with nosuid,noexec options and ensuring strict file permissions to prevent symlink creation in /tmp by untrusted users.
- 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-1999-1433 — 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-1999-1433 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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