LinuxOperating system · Redhat
CVE-2000-0196
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 · uneditedBuffer overflow in mhshow in the Linux nmh package allows remote attackers to execute commands via malformed MIME headers in an email message.
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 confidenceBuffer overflow vulnerability in mhshow, a mail viewing utility from the nmh (new mail handler) package for Linux. The flaw exists in MIME header parsing logic and allows remote attackers to execute arbitrary commands by sending specially crafted malformed MIME headers in email messages.
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
LinuxOperating system
= 5.2= 6.0= 6.1= 1.0.2= 3.5b2= 4.2= 4.4= 6.0.2CVSS 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
- Partial
- Availability
- Partial
AV:N/AC:L/Au:N/C:P/I:P/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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Verify nmh package is installedCheck for the presence of the nmh package using the system package manager (e.g., rpm -qa | grep nmh, dpkg -l | grep nmh, or which mhshow)Affected if nmh package is not found on the system, meaning mhshow is not present and cannot be exploited
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Identify installed nmh versionQuery the installed version using the package manager (e.g., rpm -q nmh, dpkg -s nmh) or run mhshow -version if availableAffected if The installed version matches one of the affected versions: nmh 1.0.2, or nmh packages shipped with Red Hat 5.2, 6.0, 6.1, or Turbolinux 3.5b2, 4.2, 4.4, 6.0.2
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Confirm mhshow binary existsLocate the mhshow binary using 'which mhshow' or 'find /usr -name mhshow'Affected if The mhshow binary exists on the system, indicating the vulnerable component is present
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Determine if mhshow is used for viewing emailReview system configuration and scripts to check if mhshow is invoked by mail clients or MH utilities for MIME message displayAffected if mhshow is configured or commonly used to render MIME-encoded email messages, enabling the malformed header parsing code path to be triggered
The environment is affected if nmh/mhshow is installed and the installed version matches the affected versions listed, and mhshow is used to process incoming email with MIME content.
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 nmh to the latest version or apply vendor patches. If upgrading is not possible, restrict access to mhshow and exercise caution when viewing email from untrusted sources.
Fix this in Linux
Scoped from the published advisory
- Consultation2.0 h
- Implementation2.0 h
- Testing2.0 h
- Review / QA1.0 h
An estimate, not a bill — we confirm scope with you before any work starts. Need it this week? Rush from $1,984.
Scan for this in your stack
Free · runs locallyCheck whether your project pulls in CVE-2000-0196 — 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-2000-0196 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