Socks 5Application · Nec

CVE-1999-1435

HIGH · 7.2 CVSS v2.0 Published 1998-07-10
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
Buffer overflow in libsocks5 library of Socks 5 (socks5) 1.0r5 allows local users to gain privileges via long environmental variables.

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 confidence

Buffer overflow in the libsocks5 library of Socks 5 version 1.0r5 allows local users to gain privileges by supplying overly long environmental variables, which overflow a buffer during processing.

MitigationUpgrade from the obsolete socks5 1.0r5 to a current, supported SOCKS proxy implementation, or remove the software entirely if unnecessary, as this is a 1999-era vulnerability in discontinued software.

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
Socks 5Application
Affected:= 1.0r5

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 if Nec Socks 5 1.0r5 is installed
    Search for socks5 binaries, libraries, or daemon processes on the system. Common locations include /usr/local/sbin/socks5, /usr/sbin/socks5, or check running processes for 'socks5' or 'socks5d'. Use commands like: which socks5, ps aux | grep socks5, find /usr -name '*socks5*' 2>/dev/null
    Affected if Nec Socks 5 version 1.0r5 binaries or daemon processes are found on the system
  2. Locate the libsocks5 library
    Search for libsocks5 library files. Check common library paths such as /usr/lib, /usr/local/lib, or /lib. Use: find / -name 'libsocks5*' 2>/dev/null or locate libsocks5
    Affected if The libsocks5 library file exists on the system, indicating the vulnerable library is present
  3. Verify the socks5 daemon is running
    Check for running socks5 services. Use: ps aux | grep -i socks or netstat -anp | grep -i sock (looking for port 1080, the standard SOCKS port)
    Affected if A socks5 daemon process is actively running, enabling the vulnerable code to process environmental variables
  4. Check for socks5 configuration files
    Look for socks5 configuration files which indicate an active installation. Common paths: /etc/socks5.conf, /etc/socks/socks5.conf, /usr/local/etc/socks5.conf. Use: find /etc -name '*socks5*' 2>/dev/null
    Affected if Socks 5 configuration files exist, confirming the software is installed and likely in use

The system is affected if Nec Socks 5 version 1.0r5 is installed and running, with the libsocks5 library present to process environmental variables that could overflow the vulnerable buffer.

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 from the obsolete socks5 1.0r5 to a current, supported SOCKS proxy implementation, or remove the software entirely if unnecessary, as this is a 1999-era vulnerability in discontinued software.

Fix this in Socks 5 Scoped from the published advisory
  • Consultation4.0 h
  • Implementation8.0 h
  • Testing6.0 h
  • Review / QA4.0 h
22.0 hours of engineering $3,860
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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-1999-1435 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
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