OmnipcxApplication · Alcatel Lucent

CVE-2002-0293

MEDIUM · 6.2 CVSS v2.0 Published 2002-05-31
Mitigation only
No fix yet — a mitigation exists. There is no fixed release. A documented workaround reduces exposure in the meantime.
See remediation →
67/100
Remediation priority · Elevated
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
FTP service in Alcatel OmniPCX 4400 allows the "halt" user to gain root privileges by modifying root's .profile file.

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 · moderate confidence

The FTP service in Alcatel OmniPCX 4400 contains an authorization flaw that allows the 'halt' user to traverse beyond their designated directory and modify root's .profile file. By inserting malicious commands into root's .profile, the halt user can execute arbitrary code with root privileges upon the next root login.

MitigationCorrect file permissions to prevent non-privileged users from writing to system files such as root's .profile, and configure the FTP service to restrict users to their home directories (chroot jail). Audit other system files for similar permission misconfigurations.

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
OmnipcxApplication
Affected:= 4400

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
High
Authentication
None
Confidentiality
Complete
Integrity
Complete
Availability
Complete

AV:L/AC:H/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. Confirm Alcatel OmniPCX 4400 product
    Identify the system as Alcatel OmniPCX 4400 by checking system information, banner, or documentation. This vulnerability affects only this specific product.
    Affected if System is not an Alcatel OmniPCX 4400 device - the CVE does not apply.
  2. Verify FTP service is enabled
    Check if the FTP service is running on the device. This can be done by checking running services, network listeners, or the device's service configuration.
    Affected if FTP service is disabled - the vulnerability cannot be exploited.
  3. Confirm halt user exists and can access FTP
    Verify the 'halt' user account exists on the system and check if this user is permitted to access the FTP service.
    Affected if The halt user does not exist or is not allowed FTP access - the specific attack vector is not present.
  4. Check file permissions on root .profile
    Inspect the file permissions on /root/.profile (or the equivalent path for root's profile file). Verify that non-privileged users cannot write to this file.
    Affected if The halt user or other non-privileged users have write access to root's .profile - the privilege escalation path exists.
  5. Verify FTP chroot configuration
    Check the FTP server configuration to determine if users are restricted to their home directories (chroot jail).
    Affected if FTP is not configured with chroot restrictions - directory traversal is possible.

A system is affected if it is an Alcatel OmniPCX 4400 with FTP enabled, the halt user can access FTP, and either the halt user can write to root's .profile or the FTP service lacks chroot restrictions.

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

Correct file permissions to prevent non-privileged users from writing to system files such as root's .profile, and configure the FTP service to restrict users to their home directories (chroot jail). Audit other system files for similar permission misconfigurations.

Fix this in Omnipcx Scoped from the published advisory
  • Consultation2.0 h
  • Implementation2.0 h
  • Testing2.0 h
  • Review / QA1.0 h
7.0 hours of engineering $1,240
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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-2002-0293 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
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  • Version or environment caveats, and links to real fixes
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