CVE-1999-1579
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 · uneditedThe Cenroll ActiveX control (xenroll.dll) for Terminal Server Editions of Windows NT 4.0 and Windows NT Server 4.0 before SP6 allows remote attackers to cause a denial of service (resource consumption) by creating a large number of arbitrary files on the target machine.
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 confidenceThe Cenroll ActiveX control (xenroll.dll) in Windows NT 4.0 Terminal Server editions contains a vulnerability allowing remote attackers to cause denial of service by creating numerous arbitrary files on the target system, exhausting disk resources.
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= 4.0CVSS 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 checksWork through these to decide whether this CVE applies to you.
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Confirm Windows NT versionCheck system version by right-clicking 'My Computer', selecting 'Properties', or running 'winver.exe' from the command line. Look for 'Windows NT' and version 4.0.Affected if The system is running Windows NT 4.0 (any build)
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Verify Terminal Server editionCheck if the system is a Terminal Server edition by reviewing the system properties or running 'winver' which displays the OS name including 'Terminal Server Edition' if applicable.Affected if The system is Windows NT 4.0 Terminal Server Edition
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Locate xenroll.dllSearch for the file xenroll.dll on the system. Common paths include C:\Winnt\System32\ or C:\Windows\System\. Use Windows Explorer search or run 'dir /s xenroll.dll' from the root.Affected if The file xenroll.dll exists on the system
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Check if ActiveX controls are enabledIn Internet Explorer, go to Tools > Internet Options > Security > Custom Level. Look for 'Run ActiveX controls and plugins' settings, or check for ActiveX control permissions in the Windows registry under HKLM\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Internet Settings\Zones.Affected if ActiveX controls are permitted to run (not disabled for all zones)
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Verify the vulnerable service is runningCheck if IIS or any web service that might serve pages hosting the ActiveX control is running. Open Services Control Panel or run 'net start' to list running services.Affected if Web services are running that could serve HTML pages containing the vulnerable ActiveX control
A system is affected if it is Windows NT 4.0 Terminal Server Edition with xenroll.dll present and ActiveX controls enabled, making it possible for remote attackers to trigger file creation via the vulnerable Cenroll control.
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 dataApply Windows NT Server 4.0 SP6 or later, or disable/remove the vulnerable xenroll.dll ActiveX control if the system cannot be patched. For legacy systems no longer under support, consider migration or network isolation.
- Consultation8.0 h
- Implementation16.0 h
- Testing8.0 h
- Review / QA4.0 h
An estimate, not a bill — we confirm scope with you before any work starts. Need it this week? Rush from $10,240.
Scan for this in your stack
Free · runs locallyCheck whether your project pulls in CVE-1999-1579 — 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-1999-1579 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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- 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