CVE-2002-1615
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 · uneditedMultiple buffer overflows in HP Tru64 UNIX 5.1a, 5.1, 5.0a, 4.0g, and 4.0f allow local users to execute arbitrary code via (1) msgchk or (2) .upd..loader.
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 vulnerabilities in HP Tru64 UNIX's msgchk and .upd..loader utilities allow local unprivileged users to execute arbitrary code with elevated privileges. This is a local privilege escalation flaw affecting versions 4.0f through 5.1a.
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= 10.20= 11.00= 11.04= 11.11= 11.22= 4.0f= 4.0g= 5.0a= 5.1= 5.1aCVSS 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 checksWork through these to decide whether this CVE applies to you.
-
Identify the operating system versionRun 'uname -a' or 'oslevel' command to determine if the system is running HP Tru64 UNIX or HP-UXAffected if The version output shows Tru64 4.0f, 4.0g, 5.0a, 5.1, or 5.1a, or HP-UX 10.20, 11.00, 11.04, 11.11, or 11.22
-
Locate the msgchk utilitySearch for the msgchk binary using 'which msgchk' or 'find / -name msgchk -type f 2>/dev/null'Affected if The msgchk binary is found on the system and is executable by unprivileged users
-
Verify msgchk binary permissionsRun 'ls -la $(which msgchk)' or 'ls -la /usr/bin/msgchk' to check file ownership and permissionsAffected if The binary is owned by root and has the setuid bit set, or is writable/executable by non-root users
-
Locate the .upd..loader utilitySearch for the .upd..loader binary using 'find / -name '.upd..loader' -type f 2>/dev/null'Affected if The .upd..loader binary is found on the system and is executable by unprivileged users
-
Verify .upd..loader binary permissionsRun 'ls -la' on the discovered path to check ownership and permissionsAffected if The binary is owned by root with setuid permissions, or is accessible to unprivileged users
A user is affected if the system runs HP Tru64 UNIX 4.0f-5.1a or HP-UX 10.20/11.x and has the msgchk or .upd..loader utilities present with permissions allowing unprivileged execution.
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 dataApply HP-supplied patches for Tru64 UNIX; if patches are unavailable due to End-of-Life status, restrict access to these utilities and migrate to a supported platform.
- Consultation4.0 h
- Implementation8.0 h
- Testing4.0 h
- Review / QA2.0 h
An estimate, not a bill — we confirm scope with you before any work starts. Need it this week? Rush from $5,120.
Scan for this in your stack
Free · runs locallyCheck whether your project pulls in CVE-2002-1615 — 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-2002-1615 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
Be the first to add a field note for this CVE — a mitigation you’ve verified, a version caveat, or a link to a working fix. Sign in above to contribute.
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.
- 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