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Slackware LinuxOperating system · Slackware

CVE-1999-1434

HIGH · 7.2 CVSS v2.0 Published 1998-07-13
Mitigation only
No fix yet — a mitigation exists. There is no fixed release. A documented workaround reduces exposure in the meantime.
See remediation →
77/100
Remediation priority · High
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
login in Slackware Linux 3.2 through 3.5 does not properly check for an error when the /etc/group file is missing, which prevents it from dropping privileges, causing it to assign root privileges to any local user who logs on to the server.

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

In Slackware Linux 3.2-3.5, the login program fails to properly handle errors when the /etc/group file is missing. This causes the program to skip dropping root privileges, resulting in any local user gaining root privileges upon login.

MitigationEnsure /etc/group file exists on affected systems, or upgrade to a supported Slackware version with the patched login binary.

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
Slackware LinuxOperating system
Affected:= 3.1= 3.2= 3.3= 3.4= 3.5

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
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 checks

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

  1. Identify the installed Slackware version
    Check /etc/slackware-version or run 'ls /var/log/packages/' to list installed packages and look for version identifiers
    Affected if The version is 3.1, 3.2, 3.3, 3.4, or 3.5
  2. Verify /etc/group file presence
    Run 'ls -la /etc/group' to check if the file exists
    Affected if The file /etc/group is missing or does not exist
  3. Confirm the login program is in use
    Check for /bin/login or /usr/bin/login and verify it is the standard Slackware login binary
    Affected if The login program from the vulnerable Slackware login package is in use on a system with missing /etc/group
  4. Check for alternative group file locations
    Inspect if /etc/group.lock or backup copies of /etc/group exist using 'ls -la /etc/group*'
    Affected if No /etc/group file or its backups exist, and the system is a vulnerable Slackware version

A system is affected if it is running Slackware Linux version 3.1 through 3.5 and the /etc/group file is missing, causing the login program to retain root privileges.

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

Ensure /etc/group file exists on affected systems, or upgrade to a supported Slackware version with the patched login binary.

Fix this in Slackware Linux Scoped from the published advisory
  • Consultation2.0 h
  • Implementation1.0 h
  • Testing1.0 h
  • Review / QA1.0 h
5.0 hours of engineering $910
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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-1999-1434 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
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