CVE-1999-1445
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 · uneditedVulnerability in imapd and ipop3d in Slackware 3.4 and 3.3 with shadowing enabled, and possibly other operating systems, allows remote attackers to cause a core dump via a short sequence of USER and PASS commands that do not provide valid usernames or passwords.
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 confidenceRemote attackers can cause imapd and ipop3d daemons on Slackware 3.3/3.4 (with shadow passwords enabled) to crash and dump core by sending invalid USER and PASS command sequences without valid credentials, causing denial of service and potential information disclosure via the core file.
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= 3.3= 3.4CVSS 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 checksWork through these to decide whether this CVE applies to you.
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Identify the Slackware versionRun 'uname -a' or check /etc/slackware-version or /etc/os-release to confirm the installed Slackware versionAffected if The version is 3.3 or 3.4 specifically
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Verify if imapd or ipop3d services are runningCheck running processes with 'ps aux | grep -E "imapd|ipop3d"' or check /etc/inetd.conf /etc/xinetd.d for configured IMAP/POP3 servicesAffected if imapd or ipop3d daemons are actively running and accessible to network connections
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Confirm shadow passwords are enabledCheck for the existence of /etc/shadow (if it exists, shadow passwords are enabled) or run 'pwck' to verify shadow password configurationAffected if Shadow passwords are enabled (/etc/shadow exists and is in use)
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Determine if core dump generation is configuredCheck ulimit settings with 'ulimit -c' or review /etc/security/limits.conf for core file settingsAffected if Core dumps are enabled (ulimit -c shows a value greater than 0 or unlimited)
A system is affected if it is Slackware 3.3 or 3.4 with shadow passwords enabled, is running imapd or ipop3d services, and accepts invalid USER/PASS command sequences that could trigger a crash and core dump.
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 to current versions of mail server software; this vulnerability affects extremely obsolete systems (1990s-era Slackware) that should not be in production use.
- Consultation2.0 h
- Implementation8.0 h
- Testing4.0 h
- Review / QA2.0 h
An estimate, not a bill — we confirm scope with you before any work starts. Need it this week? Rush from $4,480.
Scan for this in your stack
Free · runs locallyCheck whether your project pulls in CVE-1999-1445 — 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-1999-1445 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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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.
- 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