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NetbsdOperating system

CVE-2001-1091

HIGH · 7.2 CVSS v2.0 Published 2001-08-23
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
The (1) dump and (2) dump_lfs commands in NetBSD 1.4.x through 1.5.1 do not properly drop privileges, which could allow local users to gain privileges via the RCMD_CMD environment 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

The dump and dump_lfs commands in NetBSD 1.4.x through 1.5.1 fail to properly drop privileges after initialization, allowing local users to exploit the RCMD_CMD environment variable to execute arbitrary code with elevated privileges.

MitigationUpgrade to NetBSD 1.5.2 or later which contains the patched version, or apply the vendor patch to properly drop privileges before performing operations.

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
NetbsdOperating system
Affected:= 1.4= 1.4.1= 1.4.2= 1.4.3= 1.5= 1.5.1

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. Identify NetBSD version
    Run 'uname -r' to determine the installed NetBSD version
    Affected if Version is 1.4, 1.4.1, 1.4.2, 1.4.3, 1.5, or 1.5.1
  2. Locate dump binary
    Check if the dump or dump_lfs command exists on the system (commonly in /sbin or /usr/sbin directories)
    Affected if The dump or dump_lfs binary is present and executable
  3. Test RCMD_CMD environment variable influence
    Set the RCMD_CMD environment variable to a test command (for example: RCMD_CMD='echo test' /sbin/dump) and observe whether the specified command executes
    Affected if Commands set in the RCMD_CMD environment variable are executed with elevated privileges when dump runs

System is affected if running NetBSD 1.4.x through 1.5.1 with dump or dump_lfs present, and the RCMD_CMD environment variable can be leveraged to execute arbitrary code with root privileges.

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 to NetBSD 1.5.2 or later which contains the patched version, or apply the vendor patch to properly drop privileges before performing operations.

Fix this in Netbsd Scoped from the published advisory
  • Consultation2.0 h
  • Implementation4.0 h
  • Testing3.0 h
  • Review / QA2.0 h
11.0 hours of engineering $1,930
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Scan for this in your stack

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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-2001-1091 in production — separate from our analysis above.

No notes yet

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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