CVE-2000-1198
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 · uneditedqpopper POP server creates lock files with predictable names, which allows local users to cause a denial of service for other users (lack of mail access) by creating lock files for other mail boxes.
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 confidenceThe qpopper POP server creates lock files with predictable names derived from mailbox paths, allowing any local user to create denial of service conditions by pre-creating lock files for other users' mailboxes, preventing legitimate users from accessing their mail.
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= 2.53= 3.0CVSS 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
- Local
- Complexity
- Low
- Privileges
- Low
- User interaction
- None
- Scope
- Unchanged
- Confidentiality
- None
- Integrity
- None
- Availability
- High
CVSS:3.1/AV:L/AC:L/PR:L/UI:N/S:U/C:N/I:N/A:H
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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Identify if Qpopper is installedRun 'rpm -qa | grep -i qpopper' or 'dpkg -l | grep -i qpopper' or check for /usr/sbin/popper binary with 'which popper'Affected if Qpopper package or binary is found on the system
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Determine installed Qpopper versionRun 'rpm -q qpopper' or 'dpkg -s qpopper' or use 'popper -v' if availableAffected if Version is 2.53 or 3.0 exactly (note: other versions may also be affected if they use the same predictable lock file mechanism)
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Locate the mail spool directoryCheck /var/spool/mail/ or /var/mail/ directories, or run 'grep mailspool /etc/pop.conf' or check /etc/popper.cfg for mail spool path configurationAffected if Mail spool directory exists and contains user mailbox files
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Examine lock file naming pattern and permissionsLook for lock files in mail spool (e.g., /var/spool/mail/.username.lock or similar pattern) and check their permissions with 'ls -la /var/spool/mail/*.lock'Affected if Lock files use predictable names derived directly from mailbox paths (e.g., .mailboxname.lock) and are writable by any local user
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Check mail spool directory permissionsRun 'ls -ld /var/spool/mail' or 'ls -ld /var/mail' to verify directory permissions and ownershipAffected if Directory allows write access to users other than the mailbox owner or postfix user (world-writable or group-writable)
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Test lock file pre-creationAs a non-privileged user, attempt to create a lock file named after another user's mailbox (e.g., touch /var/spool/mail/.otheruser.lock)Affected if Successfully able to create arbitrary lock files in the mail spool directory
System is affected if Qpopper version 2.53 or 3.0 is installed AND the mail spool directory allows non-owner users to create lock files with predictable names derived from mailbox paths.
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 to a patched version of qpopper that uses cryptographically secure random filenames or proper locking mechanisms, or implement file permission restrictions on the mail spool directory.
- Consultation2.0 h
- Implementation4.0 h
- Testing2.0 h
- Review / QA1.0 h
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Scan for this in your stack
Free · runs locallyCheck whether your project pulls in CVE-2000-1198 — 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-2000-1198 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