CVE-2001-0964
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 client for Half-Life 1.1.0.8 and earlier allows malicious remote servers to execute arbitrary code via a long console command.
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 confidenceBuffer overflow vulnerability in the Half-Life game client (versions 1.1.0.8 and earlier) allows malicious remote game servers to execute arbitrary code on connected clients by sending specially crafted long console commands that overflow a buffer in the client software.
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<= 1.1.0.8CVSS 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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Check if Half-Life client is installedLook for the Half-Life installation directory (commonly C:\Program Files\Half-Life or C:\Program Files (x86)\Half-Life on Windows, or ~/.half-life/ on Linux) and verify the presence of hl.exe or the half-life executableAffected if Half-Life client software is found on the system
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Determine the installed Half-Life versionRight-click on hl.exe, select Properties, and check the File Version field in the Details tab. Alternatively, launch the game and type 'version' in the console (press ~ to open console) to display the client versionAffected if The displayed version number is 1.1.0.8 or earlier (such as 1.1.0.7, 1.1.0.6, etc.)
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Verify the version matches affected rangeCompare your installed version against the affected range: any version less than or equal to 1.1.0.8 is vulnerable. Version 1.1.1.0 or higher is not affectedAffected if The installed version is 1.1.0.8 or any earlier version number
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Confirm client usage exposureCheck if the Half-Life client is configured to automatically connect to servers or if it has been used recently to join multiplayer games, as the vulnerability is triggered when connecting to a remote game server sending malicious console commandsAffected if The client has been used to connect to untrusted or unknown game servers, or auto-connect settings are enabled
If Half-Life client version 1.1.0.8 or earlier is installed and has been used to connect to remote game servers, the system is affected by this buffer overflow vulnerability.
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 the Half-Life client to a version newer than 1.1.0.8, or if the software is obsolete and no longer supported, discontinue use and migrate to modern game clients.
- Consultation1.0 h
- Implementation1.0 h
- Testing1.0 h
- Review / QA1.0 h
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Free · runs locallyCheck whether your project pulls in CVE-2001-0964 — 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-2001-0964 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
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