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Net SnmpApplication

CVE-2005-1740

HIGH · 10.0 CVSS v2.0 Published 2005-05-24
Mitigation only
No fix yet — a mitigation exists. There is no fixed release. A documented workaround reduces exposure in the meantime.
See remediation →
100/100
Remediation priority · Urgent
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
fixproc in Net-snmp 5.x before 5.2.1-r1 creates temporary files insecurely, which allows local users to modify the contents of those files to execute arbitrary commands, or overwrite arbitrary files via a symlink attack.

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 confidence

The fixproc utility in Net-snmp versions 5.x before 5.2.1-r1 creates temporary files in an insecure manner, using predictable file names or unsafe permissions in a world-writable location. This allows a local unprivileged attacker to perform a symlink attack, either modifying the temporary file contents to execute arbitrary commands with the privileges of the fixproc process, or overwriting arbitrary files on the system.

MitigationUpgrade Net-snmp to version 5.2.1-r1 or later to obtain the patched fixproc utility. If immediate patching is not feasible, restrict execution permissions on fixproc to trusted users only and ensure the /tmp directory has appropriate sticky-bit permissions to mitigate symlink attacks.

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
Net SnmpApplication
Affected:= 5.0.1= 5.0.3= 5.0.4_pre2= 5.0.5= 5.0.6= 5.0.7= 5.0.8= 5.0.9= 5.1.2

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
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 checks

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

  1. Locate the fixproc utility
    Run 'which fixproc' or 'find / -name fixproc -type f 2>/dev/null' to find the fixproc binary
    Affected if fixproc is found on the system and is executable
  2. Determine Net-snmp version
    Run 'snmpd -V' or check the package version using 'rpm -q net-snmp' or 'dpkg -l net-snmp'
    Affected if The version is 5.0.1, 5.0.3, 5.0.4_pre2, 5.0.5, 5.0.6, 5.0.7, 5.0.8, 5.0.9, or 5.1.2, or any 5.x version before 5.2.1-r1
  3. Inspect fixproc file permissions
    Run 'ls -la /path/to/fixproc' to check owner, group, and world-execute permissions
    Affected if fixproc is owned by root and has world-execute permission, allowing unprivileged users to run it
  4. Check /tmp for fixproc temporary files
    Run 'ls -la /tmp | grep fixproc' or monitor /tmp during fixproc execution
    Affected if Temporary files with predictable names (such as fixproc.pid or similar patterns) exist in /tmp with insecure permissions (world-writable)
  5. Verify /tmp sticky-bit protection
    Run 'ls -ld /tmp' to check if the sticky-bit is set (last permission character should be 't')
    Affected if The sticky-bit is not set on /tmp, making symlink attacks easier

You are affected if the fixproc utility is present, the Net-snmp version is 5.x before 5.2.1-r1, and unprivileged users can execute fixproc or access its insecure temporary files in /tmp.

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.

dbcve · scoped
Mitigation available No clean upgrade yet — mitigate in the meantime
Mitigation

Upgrade Net-snmp to version 5.2.1-r1 or later to obtain the patched fixproc utility. If immediate patching is not feasible, restrict execution permissions on fixproc to trusted users only and ensure the /tmp directory has appropriate sticky-bit permissions to mitigate symlink attacks.

Recommended fix High confidence

Upgrade to Net-SNMP 5.2.1-r1 or later (ideally latest stable 5.x branch)

  1. 1. Identify the current Net-SNMP version installed: snmpd -V or net-snmp-config --version
  2. 2. Check if the fixproc utility exists: which fixproc or locate fixproc
  3. 3. If running a vulnerable version (5.0.1, 5.0.3, 5.0.4_pre2, 5.0.5, or any version before 5.2.1-r1), obtain the fixed version 5.2.1-r1 or later from your Linux distribution's package repository or from Net-SNMP official sources (net-snmp.org)
  4. 4. Before upgrading, backup the current configuration: cp -r /etc/snmp /etc/snmp.bak
  5. 5. Upgrade Net-SNMP using your package manager (e.g., apt-get update && apt-get install snmp, or yum update net-snmp, or emerge --ask net-snmp)
  6. 6. Verify the new version includes the fixproc security patch by checking the changelog or release notes
  7. 7. Restart any SNMP services if they were running
Caveat Minor: Review snmpd.conf configuration for any deprecated directives; test SNMP queries after upgrade

Generated from the published advisory — verify against the referenced sources before acting.

Fix this in Net Snmp Scoped from the published advisory
  • Consultation2.0 h
  • Implementation2.0 h
  • Testing2.0 h
  • Review / QA1.0 h
7.0 hours of engineering $1,240
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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-2005-1740 in production — separate from our analysis above.

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What this is

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What belongs here
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  • Version or environment caveats, and links to real fixes
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