CVE-2001-1501
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 · uneditedThe glob functionality in ProFTPD 1.2.1, and possibly other versions allows remote attackers to cause a denial of service (CPU and memory consumption) via commands with large numbers of wildcard and other special characters, as demonstrated using an ls command with multiple (1) "*/..", (2) "*/.*", or (3) ".*./*?/" sequences in the argument.
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 confidenceProFTPD 1.2.1 (and possibly other versions) contains a denial of service vulnerability in its glob functionality. Remote attackers can trigger excessive CPU and memory consumption by issuing ls commands containing patterns with large numbers of wildcards and special characters, such as '*/..', '*/.*', or '.*./*?/' sequences.
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= 1.2.1CVSS 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
- None
- Integrity
- None
- Availability
- Partial
AV:N/AC:L/Au:N/C:N/I:N/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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Identify if ProFTPD is installedRun 'proftpd -v' or 'proftpd -h' to display version information, or check for the binary at common locations like /usr/sbin/proftpdAffected if ProFTPD is present on the system and running as a service
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Determine the installed ProFTPD versionExecute 'proftpd -v' or 'ftpctl version' to retrieve the exact version number, or check the package manager for installed proftpd packagesAffected if The installed version matches 1.2.1 or falls within the affected range provided
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Verify the FTP service is running and accessibleCheck if the FTP daemon is listening on port 21 using 'netstat -an | grep :21' or 'ss -tlnp | grep :21'Affected if The FTP service is active and exposed to network access, increasing exposure to remote attackers
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Look for signs of resource exhaustion from glob processingMonitor CPU and memory usage of the proftpd process during glob-heavy ls operations, or review system logs for patterns of '*/..', '*/.*', or '.*./*?/' in ls commandsAffected if ProFTPD processes exhibit high CPU or memory consumption when processing ls commands with wildcard patterns, indicating the vulnerability is being triggered
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Check for anomalous FTP command patterns in logsReview ProFTPD access logs for repeated ls commands containing wildcard sequences like '*/', '.*', or '?' characters used in unusual combinationsAffected if Logs show repeated ls commands with patterns that could exploit the glob DoS vulnerability
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Verify glob functionality is enabled in configurationExamine the ProFTPD configuration file for any settings related to glob expansion or shell command executionAffected if Glob functionality is enabled and the server accepts ls commands from remote users
A system is affected if it runs ProFTPD version 1.2.1 with the FTP service accessible to remote users and glob-based ls command processing enabled.
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 ProFTPD that addresses this vulnerability. If immediate upgrade is not feasible, restrict FTP access to trusted users via firewall rules or access controls to reduce attack surface.
- Consultation2.0 h
- Implementation4.0 h
- Testing3.0 h
- Review / QA1.0 h
An estimate, not a bill — we confirm scope with you before any work starts. Need it this week? Rush from $2,800.
Scan for this in your stack
Free · runs locallyCheck whether your project pulls in CVE-2001-1501 — 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-2001-1501 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
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