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Afp ServerApplication · Apple

CVE-2005-1721

HIGH · 7.5 CVSS v2.0 Published 2005-06-16
Mitigation only
No fix yet — a mitigation exists. There is no fixed release. A documented workaround reduces exposure in the meantime.
See remediation →
84/100
Remediation priority · High
Remotely reachable 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
Buffer overflow in the legacy client support for AFP Server for Mac OS X 10.4.1 allows attackers to execute arbitrary code.

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

Buffer overflow vulnerability in the legacy client support module of AFP Server on Mac OS X 10.4.1 allows remote attackers to execute arbitrary code via specially crafted AFP packets.

MitigationUpgrade Mac OS X 10.4.1 to a patched version or disable legacy AFP client support if upgrade is not feasible.

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
Afp ServerApplication
Affected:all versions

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
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 checks

Work through these to decide whether this CVE applies to you.

  1. Verify AFP Server is running
    Check if the AppleFileServer process is active: ps aux | grep -i applefile or use Activity Monitor to look for AppleFileServer
    Affected if AFP Server process is running
  2. Confirm Mac OS X version
    Run 'sw_vers' or check System Profiler for the exact OS version number
    Affected if Version is Mac OS X 10.4.1 or earlier
  3. Check legacy AFP client support status
    Inspect AFP server configuration files in /Library/Preferences/com.apple.AppleFileServer.plist or check via Server Admin tool if legacy clients are enabled
    Affected if Legacy AFP client support is enabled in AFP Server settings
  4. Identify listening AFP service
    Run 'sudo lsof -i :548' to confirm AFP service is listening on port 548
    Affected if AFP service is listening on port 548

User is affected if running Mac OS X 10.4.1 with AFP Server enabled and legacy AFP client support active, as the buffer overflow requires the vulnerable legacy client module to be present and enabled.

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

Upgrade Mac OS X 10.4.1 to a patched version or disable legacy AFP client support if upgrade is not feasible.

Fix this in Afp Server Scoped from the published advisory
  • Consultation2.0 h
  • Implementation4.0 h
  • Testing3.0 h
  • Review / QA1.0 h
10.0 hours of engineering $1,750
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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-2005-1721 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
  • 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