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UnixwareOperating system · Sco

CVE-2000-0099

HIGH · 7.2 CVSS v2.0 Published 2000-01-18
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 UnixWare ppptalk command allows local users to gain privileges via a long prompt argument.

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

Buffer overflow vulnerability in the ppptalk command on UnixWare allows local attackers to gain elevated privileges by supplying an excessively long prompt argument, which overwrites memory and executes arbitrary code with elevated permissions.

MitigationApply vendor patches for UnixWare or remove/disable the ppptalk binary if no patch is available; given the 2000 vintage, strongly consider retiring this legacy system as UnixWare is obsolete.

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
UnixwareOperating system
Affected:= 7.0.0= 7.0.1= 7.1.0

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 operating system version
    Run 'uname -a' or check /etc/os-release to determine if the system is running UnixWare 7.0.0, 7.0.1, or 7.1.0
    Affected if The OS is Sco Unixware version 7.0.0, 7.0.1, or 7.1.0
  2. Locate the ppptalk binary
    Search for the ppptalk executable using 'find / -name ppptalk -type f 2>/dev/null' or check common binary directories
    Affected if The ppptalk binary exists on the system
  3. Check ppptalk file permissions and ownership
    Run 'ls -la <path_to_ppptalk>' to examine if the binary has SUID or SGID bits set, or is owned by root
    Affected if The binary has SUID root permissions, making it a privilege escalation vector
  4. Verify ppptalk is accessible to local users
    Check if non-privileged users can execute ppptalk by examining file permissions and testing execution
    Affected if Local unprivileged users can execute the ppptalk binary

A user is affected if their system runs Sco UnixWare 7.0.0, 7.0.1, or 7.1.0 AND the ppptalk binary exists with executable permissions accessible to local users.

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

Apply vendor patches for UnixWare or remove/disable the ppptalk binary if no patch is available; given the 2000 vintage, strongly consider retiring this legacy system as UnixWare is obsolete.

Fix this in Unixware Scoped from the published advisory
  • Consultation2.0 h
  • Implementation2.0 h
  • Testing1.0 h
  • Review / QA1.0 h
6.0 hours of engineering $1,090
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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-2000-0099 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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