CVE-1999-0625 in Host
Summary
by MITRE
The rpc.rquotad service is running.
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Analysis
by VulDB Data Team • 10/25/2025
The rpc.rquotad service represents a significant security vulnerability within networked computing environments, specifically targeting the Remote Procedure Call (RPC) framework that has been integral to Unix-based systems for decades. This service operates as part of the Remote Quota Daemon functionality, which provides remote access to file system quota information for users and groups across networked systems. The presence of this service running on a system creates an attack surface that can be exploited by malicious actors seeking to gain unauthorized access to file system metrics and potentially escalate their privileges within the network infrastructure.
The technical flaw associated with CVE-1999-0625 stems from the inherent design of the rpc.rquotad service which operates without proper authentication mechanisms or access controls. This service typically listens on specific RPC ports and accepts requests from remote clients without requiring proper authorization, making it vulnerable to exploitation through various attack vectors. The service operates at a low privilege level but can provide attackers with detailed information about user quotas, disk usage patterns, and potentially sensitive system metrics that could be leveraged for further attacks. The vulnerability is particularly concerning because it represents a misconfiguration where a service that should be restricted to local access is running with network accessibility, creating a direct pathway for unauthorized remote access.
From an operational impact perspective, the running rpc.rquotad service exposes organizations to multiple security risks that can escalate from information disclosure to more severe compromise scenarios. Attackers can utilize this service to gather intelligence about user accounts, their disk usage patterns, and potentially identify high-value targets within the system. The service can reveal sensitive information about file system usage that might indicate the presence of valuable data repositories or identify users with elevated privileges based on their storage consumption patterns. This information disclosure can significantly aid in planning more sophisticated attacks, including privilege escalation attempts or targeted exploitation of other system components that might be associated with users identified through quota information.
The vulnerability aligns with several common weakness enumerations including CWE-200, which addresses information exposure, and CWE-284, which covers improper access control mechanisms. These classifications highlight the fundamental security flaws in the service's design and deployment, where proper access controls have not been implemented to restrict remote access to quota information. The service also maps to ATT&CK technique T1083, which covers the discovery of system information through local network enumeration and information gathering activities. Organizations should consider implementing network segmentation policies that prevent direct access to RPC services and ensure that only authorized systems can communicate with these critical infrastructure components.
Effective mitigation strategies for CVE-1999-0625 require immediate administrative intervention to either disable the service entirely or restrict its network accessibility through proper firewall rules and access control lists. System administrators should implement network segmentation to ensure that rpc.rquotad services are only accessible from trusted internal networks and that appropriate firewall rules are configured to block external access attempts. Additionally, organizations should conduct regular security audits to identify and disable unnecessary services running on their systems, particularly those that provide information disclosure capabilities without proper authentication mechanisms. The recommended approach involves disabling the service through proper system configuration management and implementing monitoring to detect unauthorized access attempts to RPC services that should not be exposed to external networks.