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Debian LinuxOperating system · Debian

CVE-2000-0607

HIGH · 7.2 CVSS v2.0 Published 2000-06-21
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 fld program in Kanji on Console (KON) package on Linux may allow local users to gain root privileges via an input file containing long CHARSET_REGISTRY or CHARSET_ENCODING settings.

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 in the fld program of the Kanji on Console (KON) package on Linux allows local users to gain root privileges by providing specially crafted input files containing excessively long CHARSET_REGISTRY or CHARSET_ENCODING settings, which overflow a buffer and enable arbitrary code execution with elevated privileges.

MitigationUpgrade or remove the KON package if unmaintained; if continued use is required, apply bounds checking to CHARSET_REGISTRY and CHARSET_ENCODING input fields in the fld program source code, or restrict file permissions to prevent untrusted users from supplying input files.

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
Debian LinuxOperating system
Affected:= 2.0= 2.1= 2.2= 2.3
LinuxOperating system
Affected:= 5.0= 5.1= 5.2= 6.1= 6.2
Mandrake LinuxOperating system
Affected:= 6.1= 7.0= 7.1

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. Check if the fld binary exists
    Run `which fld` or `find /usr -name 'fld' -type f 2>/dev/null` to locate the fld program from the Kanji on Console package
    Affected if The fld binary is present on the system, indicating KON is installed
  2. Determine the KON package version
    Run `dpkg -l kon` on Debian, `rpm -qa | grep -i kon` on Red Hat, or `rpm -qa | grep -i kanji` on Mandrake to identify the installed version
    Affected if The installed version matches Debian 2.0-2.3, Red Hat 5.0-5.2 or 6.1-6.2, or Mandrake 6.1/7.0/7.1, placing it within the affected ranges
  3. Locate input files with console font settings
    Search for files containing 'CHARSET_REGISTRY' or 'CHARSET_ENCODING' strings, typically in /etc/console or user home directories: `grep -r 'CHARSET_REGISTRY\|CHARSET_ENCODING' /etc/ 2>/dev/null`
    Affected if Configuration files exist with these charset settings that could be crafted as malicious input to fld
  4. Verify fld binary permissions
    Run `ls -la $(which fld 2>/dev/null)` or check the binary's owner and permissions to determine if untrusted local users can execute it
    Affected if The fld binary is owned by root with the setuid bit and is executable by untrusted users, enabling privilege escalation
  5. Check for setuid root on fld
    Run `ls -la $(which fld 2>/dev/null) | grep '^-..s'` to detect if the binary has setuid root permissions
    Affected if The fld binary has the setuid bit set, which is required for the privilege escalation to succeed

A user is affected if the KON fld program is installed with a version in the affected ranges and has setuid root permissions, allowing untrusted local users to supply crafted input files.

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

Upgrade or remove the KON package if unmaintained; if continued use is required, apply bounds checking to CHARSET_REGISTRY and CHARSET_ENCODING input fields in the fld program source code, or restrict file permissions to prevent untrusted users from supplying input files.

Fix this in Debian Linux Scoped from the published advisory
  • Consultation2.0 h
  • Implementation4.0 h
  • Testing2.0 h
  • Review / QA1.0 h
9.0 hours of engineering $1,600
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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-2000-0607 in production — separate from our analysis above.

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What this is

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What belongs here
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  • Version or environment caveats, and links to real fixes
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