CVE-2005-0986
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 · uneditedNLSCCSTR.DLL in the web service in IBM Lotus Domino Server 6.5.1, 6.0.3, and possibly other versions allows remote attackers to cause a denial of service (deep recursion and nHTTP.exe process crash) via a long GET request containing UNICODE decimal value 430 characters, which causes the stack to be exhausted. NOTE: IBM has reported that it is unable to replicate this issue.
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 confidenceA denial of service vulnerability exists in the NLSCCSTR.DLL web service library of IBM Lotus Domino Server 6.5.1 and 6.0.3. Remote attackers can send a long GET request containing 430 UNICODE decimal characters, triggering deep recursive processing that exhausts the stack and crashes the nHTTP.exe process. IBM noted they were unable to replicate the issue.
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= 6.0.3= 6.5.1CVSS 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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Verify IBM Lotus Domino Server versionRun 'show server' from Domino console or check the version via Domino Administrator, or run 'nserver -version' from command lineAffected if Installed version is exactly 6.0.3 or exactly 6.5.1
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Confirm NLSCCSTR.DLL presenceSearch for NLSCCSTR.DLL in the Domino program directory (typically Domino\html\web\ or the main program folder)Affected if The NLSCCSTR.DLL file exists in the Domino installation directories
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Check if HTTP task is enabledRun 'show tasks' from Domino console or check server document to verify HTTP task is runningAffected if HTTP web service task (nHTTP.exe) is enabled and running on the server
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Verify web service is accessibleAttempt to access the server via HTTP on port 80 or 443 using a browser or curlAffected if The Domino web server is accessible and responding to HTTP requests
The server is affected only if it is running exactly version 6.0.3 or 6.5.1 AND the HTTP web service task is enabled, exposing the NLSCCSTR.DLL to incoming GET requests.
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 dataImplement web server request length limits and timeout controls to mitigate oversized or abnormally long requests; consider upgrading to a supported Domino version if available, as these are very old releases.
- 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.
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Free · runs locallyCheck whether your project pulls in CVE-2005-0986 — 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-2005-0986 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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