CVE-2002-1689
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 · uneditedUnknown vulnerability in the login program on AIX before 4.0 could allow remote users to specify 100 or more environment variables when logging on, which exceeds the length of a certain string, possibly triggering a buffer overflow.
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 confidenceBuffer overflow vulnerability in the AIX login program (versions prior to 4.0) where remote attackers specifying 100 or more environment variables during authentication exceed a fixed string buffer length, potentially allowing arbitrary code execution with elevated privileges.
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= 3.2.5CVSS 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
- Complete
- Integrity
- Complete
- Availability
- Complete
AV:N/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.
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Check the installed AIX versionRun 'oslevel' or 'uname -a' to determine the exact AIX version numberAffected if The version returned is 3.2.5 (or any version prior to 4.0, though this CVE specifically notes 3.2.5)
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Verify the login program binary existsCheck for /usr/bin/login and confirm it is the AIX login program using 'ls -la /usr/bin/login'Affected if The login binary exists at /usr/bin/login and the system is running AIX 3.2.5
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Determine if remote login services are enabledCheck /etc/inetd.conf or use 'lssrc -t telnet' 'lssrc -t rlogin' to see if telnet or rlogin services are activeAffected if Remote login services (telnet, rlogin) are enabled on a vulnerable AIX version, allowing external authentication attempts that could trigger the overflow
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Check for any installed security patchesRun 'instfix -i | grep -i CVE2002' or 'instfix -i | grep -i IV30025' (the APAR number for this issue) to see if patches have been appliedAffected if No patches for this vulnerability are installed and the system is at version 3.2.5
You are affected if your system runs AIX version 3.2.5 with the login program accessible for remote authentication (e.g., via telnet or rlogin) and no security patches have been applied.
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.
dbcve · scopedUpgrade to AIX 4.0 or later; if running legacy systems precludes upgrade, apply IBM's official AIX security patches for this issue or implement network-level access controls to limit login exposure.
AIX 4.0 or later (recommended: AIX 7.2 TL5 or latest supported release)
- Upgrade the AIX system from version 3.2.5 to AIX 4.0 or later (preferably a more recent, supported AIX release such as AIX 7.2)
- After upgrading, verify that the login program no longer accepts excessive environment variables that could trigger buffer overflows
- Test all login methods (telnet, rlogin, SSH) to ensure the vulnerability is remediated
- Ensure all applications are compatible with the new AIX version after upgrade
Generated from the published advisory — verify against the referenced sources before acting.
- Consultation8.0 h
- Implementation16.0 h
- Testing8.0 h
- Review / QA4.0 h
An estimate, not a bill — we confirm scope with you before any work starts. Need it this week? Rush from $10,240.
Scan for this in your stack
Free · runs locallyCheck whether your project pulls in CVE-2002-1689 — 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-2002-1689 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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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
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