CVE-2005-1238
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 · uneditedBy design, the built-in FTP server for iSeries AS/400 systems does not support a restricted document root, which allows attackers to read or write arbitrary files, including sensitive QSYS databases, via a full pathname in a GET or PUT request.
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 confidenceThe iSeries AS/400 built-in FTP server lacks support for a restricted document root (chroot), a fundamental design flaw. Attackers can exploit this by using full pathnames in GET/PUT commands to read or write to arbitrary files on the system, including the critical QSYS database files that contain core system data and business information.
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 dataall versionsCVSS 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
- Partial
- Integrity
- Partial
- Availability
- Partial
AV:N/AC:L/Au:N/C:P/I:P/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 if native FTP server is startedUse WRKTCPSTS (Work with TCP/IP Status) or NETSTAT *FTP commands to check if FTP server listener is active and listening on port 21Affected if FTP server shows as listening/started - the vulnerability exists in the enabled server
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Confirm FTP server lacks chroot capabilityReview FTP server configuration via CFGFTP or DSPFTPA - note that chroot/restricted document root option is not available or not functional in any versionAffected if No chroot or restricted root option exists in FTP server configuration - this is the design flaw
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Check FTP network accessibilityUse NETSTAT *CNN or check firewall rules to determine if port 21 is open to network interfaces beyond the trusted management networkAffected if FTP port 21 is accessible from networks outside authorized management segments
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Identify user profiles with FTP authorityUse WRKUSRPRF *FTP or check user profiles with FTP special authority (such as *IOSYSCFG) that could access the serverAffected if Any user profile with FTP access exists - attackers could exploit full pathname access
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Review FTP server logging and recent connectionsCheck FTP server logs via DSPLOG or WRKLOG for recent FTP activity to confirm active exploitation attempts or suspicious full-path commandsAffected if Recent FTP activity shows GET/PUT commands with absolute pathnames (starting with / or QSYS/) indicating exploitation attempts
The environment is affected if the native AS/400 FTP server is enabled and accessible, since the missing chroot support is a design flaw present in all versions.
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 dataDisable the native AS/400 FTP server and migrate to a secure file transfer solution (such as SFTP with restricted user profiles, or a third-party FTP server with chroot capabilities). Implement network segmentation and strict firewall rules to limit FTP access to authorized management networks as an interim compensating control.
- Consultation8.0 h
- Implementation24.0 h
- Testing12.0 h
- Review / QA6.0 h
An estimate, not a bill — we confirm scope with you before any work starts. Need it this week? Rush from $14,080.
Scan for this in your stack
Free · runs locallyCheck whether your project pulls in CVE-2005-1238 — 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-2005-1238 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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