VDB-14609 · CVE-1999-0446 · XFDB 2062

NetBSD 1.3.1/1.3.2/1.3.3 ln symlink

CVSS Meta Temp Score CVSS is a standardized scoring system to determine possibilities of attacks. The Temp Score considers temporal factors like disclosure, exploit and countermeasures. The unique Meta Score calculates the average score of different sources to provide a normalized scoring system.	Current Exploit Price (≈) Our analysts are monitoring exploit markets and are in contact with vulnerability brokers. The range indicates the observed or calculated exploit price to be seen on exploit markets. A good indicator to understand the monetary effort required for and the popularity of an attack.	CTI Interest Score Our Cyber Threat Intelligence team is monitoring different web sites, mailing lists, exploit markets and social media networks. The CTI Interest Score identifies the interest of attackers and the security community for this specific vulnerability in real-time. A high score indicates an elevated risk to be targeted for this vulnerability.
3.8	$0-$5k	0.00

Summaryinfo

A vulnerability was found in NetBSD 1.3.1/1.3.2/1.3.3. It has been rated as problematic. Affected by this issue is some unknown functionality of the component ln. The manipulation leads to symlink. This vulnerability is traded as CVE-1999-0446. There is no exploit available. Upgrading the affected component is advised.

Detailsinfo

A vulnerability, which was classified as problematic, has been found in NetBSD 1.3.1/1.3.2/1.3.3 (Operating System). This issue affects an unknown function of the component ln. The manipulation with an unknown input leads to a symlink vulnerability. Using CWE to declare the problem leads to CWE-61. The product, when opening a file or directory, does not sufficiently account for when the file is a symbolic link that resolves to a target outside of the intended control sphere. This could allow an attacker to cause the product to operate on unauthorized files. Impacted is availability. The summary by CVE is:

Local users can perform a denial of service in NetBSD 1.3.3 and earlier versions by creating an unusual symbolic link with the ln command, triggering a bug in VFS.

The weakness was shared 04/12/1999 by Antti Kantee and Matthew Orgass (Website). The advisory is shared at archives.neohapsis.com. The identification of this vulnerability is CVE-1999-0446. The exploitation is known to be easy. An attack has to be approached locally. No form of authentication is needed for a successful exploitation. Neither technical details nor an exploit are publicly available.

After immediately, there has been an exploit disclosed.

Upgrading eliminates this vulnerability.

The vulnerability is also documented in the databases at X-Force (2062), OSVDB (7051†) and Vulnerability Center (SBV-603†). Several companies clearly confirm that VulDB is the primary source for best vulnerability data.

Productinfo

Type

Operating System

Name

NetBSD

Version

License

open-source

CPE 2.3info

CPE 2.2info

CVSSv4info

VulDB Vector: 🔍
VulDB Reliability: 🔍

CVSSv3info

VulDB Meta Base Score: 4.0
VulDB Meta Temp Score: 3.8

VulDB Base Score: 4.0
VulDB Temp Score: 3.8
VulDB Vector: 🔍
VulDB Reliability: 🔍

CVSSv2info

AV	AC	Au	C	I	A
💳	💳	💳	💳	💳	💳
💳	💳	💳	💳	💳	💳
💳	💳	💳	💳	💳	💳

Vector	Complexity	Authentication	Confidentiality	Integrity	Availability
Unlock	Unlock	Unlock	Unlock	Unlock	Unlock
Unlock	Unlock	Unlock	Unlock	Unlock	Unlock
Unlock	Unlock	Unlock	Unlock	Unlock	Unlock

VulDB Base Score: 🔍
VulDB Temp Score: 🔍
VulDB Reliability: 🔍

NVD Base Score: 🔍

Exploitinginfo

Class: Symlink
CWE: CWE-61 / CWE-59
CAPEC: 🔍
ATT&CK: 🔍

Physical: Partially
Local: Yes
Remote: No

Availability: 🔍
Status: Not defined

EPSS Score: 🔍
EPSS Percentile: 🔍

Price Prediction: 🔍
Current Price Estimation: 🔍

0-Day	Unlock	Unlock	Unlock	Unlock
Today	Unlock	Unlock	Unlock	Unlock

Threat Intelligenceinfo

Interest: 🔍
Active Actors: 🔍
Active APT Groups: 🔍

Countermeasuresinfo

Recommended: Upgrade
Status: 🔍

0-Day Time: 🔍
Exploit Delay Time: 🔍

Timelineinfo

04/12/1999 🔍
04/12/1999 +0 days 🔍
04/12/1999 +0 days 🔍
04/12/1999 +0 days 🔍
12/31/2002 +1359 days 🔍
04/09/2004 +464 days 🔍
06/20/2014 +3724 days 🔍
04/19/2026 +4320 days 🔍

Sourcesinfo

Advisory: archives.neohapsis.com
Researcher: Antti Kantee, Matthew Orgass
Status: Confirmed

CVE: CVE-1999-0446 (🔍)
GCVE (CVE): GCVE-0-1999-0446
GCVE (VulDB): GCVE-100-14609
X-Force: 2062
OSVDB: 7051 - NetBSD VFS Symbolic Link System Panic DoS
Vulnerability Center: 603 - NetBSA 1.3.3 Symlink DOS, Medium

Entryinfo

Created: 06/20/2014 23:35
Updated: 04/19/2026 01:15
Changes: 06/20/2014 23:35 (54), 05/07/2019 20:53 (4), 04/19/2026 01:15 (18)
Complete: 🔍
Cache ID: 216::103

Several companies clearly confirm that VulDB is the primary source for best vulnerability data.