dbcve.org
FreeBSDOperating system

CVE-2000-0388

HIGH · 7.5 CVSS v2.0 Published 1990-05-09
Mitigation only
No fix yet — a mitigation exists. There is no fixed release. A documented workaround reduces exposure in the meantime.
See remediation →
84/100
Remediation priority · High
Remotely reachable 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 FreeBSD libmytinfo library allows local users to execute commands via a long TERMCAP environmental variable.

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 FreeBSD libmytinfo library allows local privilege escalation via an overly long TERMCAP environment variable, enabling arbitrary command execution with the privileges of the user running the affected application.

MitigationApply FreeBSD security patches for this vulnerability or upgrade to a patched version of FreeBSD; ensure TERMCAP environment variable handling is properly validated in any custom code.

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
FreeBSDOperating system
Affected:= 3.0= 3.1= 3.2= 3.3= 3.4

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
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 checks

Work through these to decide whether this CVE applies to you.

  1. Identify the FreeBSD version
    Run 'uname -r' or check /etc/os-release (if available) to determine the installed FreeBSD version
    Affected if The version is 3.0, 3.1, 3.2, 3.3, or 3.4
  2. Locate the libmytinfo library
    Search for libmytinfo using 'find /usr -name "*mytinfo*" 2>/dev/null' or check /usr/lib for the library file
    Affected if The libmytinfo library exists on the system (vulnerable versions shipped with it)
  3. Identify applications linked against libmytinfo
    Use 'ldd' on binaries or check /var/db/pkg for installed packages that may link this library
    Affected if Any setuid/setgid applications are linked against libmytinfo and run by users
  4. Check TERMCAP environment variable handling
    Inspect the environment for TERMCAP or TERM environment variables and review how applications process them
    Affected if Applications process the TERMCAP environment variable without proper length validation

A system is affected if it runs FreeBSD versions 3.0 through 3.4 and has applications using libmytinfo that handle the TERMCAP environment variable.

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 FreeBSD security patches for this vulnerability or upgrade to a patched version of FreeBSD; ensure TERMCAP environment variable handling is properly validated in any custom code.

Fix this in FreeBSD Scoped from the published advisory
  • Consultation2.0 h
  • Implementation3.0 h
  • Testing2.0 h
  • Review / QA1.0 h
8.0 hours of engineering $1,420
Get help mitigating

An estimate, not a bill — we confirm scope with you before any work starts. Need it this week? Rush from $2,272.

Scan for this in your stack

Free · runs locally
dbcve dependency scanner

Check whether your project pulls in CVE-2000-0388 — or any other known-vulnerable package — straight from your lock files. Free and open source; it runs locally and uploads nothing.

Get it on GitHub Scan in the browser

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-2000-0388 in production — separate from our analysis above.

No notes yet

Be the first to add a field note for this CVE — a mitigation you’ve verified, a version caveat, or a link to a working fix. Sign in above to contribute.

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
  • No spam, self-promotion, credentials, or personal data