GNU fingerd 1.37 Privilege .fingerrc privileges management

CVSS Meta Temp Score
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CTI Interest Score
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8.0$0-$5k0.00

Summaryinfo

A vulnerability labeled as problematic has been found in GNU fingerd 1.37. This impacts an unknown function of the file .fingerrc of the component Privilege Handler. Such manipulation leads to privileges management. This vulnerability is listed as CVE-1999-1165. There is no available exploit. The affected component should be upgraded.

Detailsinfo

A vulnerability was found in GNU fingerd 1.37 and classified as critical. Affected by this issue is an unknown part of the file .fingerrc of the component Privilege Handler. The manipulation with an unknown input leads to a privileges management vulnerability. Using CWE to declare the problem leads to CWE-269. The product does not properly assign, modify, track, or check privileges for an actor, creating an unintended sphere of control for that actor. Impacted is confidentiality, integrity, and availability. CVE summarizes:

GNU fingerd 1.37 does not properly drop privileges before accessing user information, which could allow local users to (1) gain root privileges via a malicious program in the .fingerrc file, or (2) read arbitrary files via symbolic links from .plan, .forward, or .project files.

The weakness was presented 07/21/1999 by FIRST (Website). The advisory is available at marc.info. This vulnerability is handled as CVE-1999-1165. The exploitation is known to be easy. Local access is required to approach this attack. No form of authentication is required for exploitation. Technical details are known, but there is no available exploit. This vulnerability is assigned to T1068 by the MITRE ATT&CK project.

The vulnerability scanner Nessus provides a plugin with the ID 29229 (FreeBSD : GNU finger vulnerability (610bc692-a2ad-11dc-900c-000bcdc1757a)), which helps to determine the existence of the flaw in a target environment. It is assigned to the family FreeBSD Local Security Checks and running in the context l.

Upgrading eliminates this vulnerability. A possible mitigation has been published 10 years after the disclosure of the vulnerability.

The vulnerability is also documented in the databases at X-Force (7175), Tenable (29229), SecurityFocus (BID 535†), OSVDB (10874†) and Vulnerability Center (SBV-17077†). If you want to get best quality of vulnerability data, you may have to visit VulDB.

Productinfo

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CPE 2.3info

CPE 2.2info

CVSSv4info

VulDB Vector: 🔍
VulDB Reliability: 🔍

CVSSv3info

VulDB Meta Base Score: 8.4
VulDB Meta Temp Score: 8.0

VulDB Base Score: 8.4
VulDB Temp Score: 8.0
VulDB Vector: 🔍
VulDB Reliability: 🔍

CVSSv2info

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VectorComplexityAuthenticationConfidentialityIntegrityAvailability
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VulDB Base Score: 🔍
VulDB Temp Score: 🔍
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NVD Base Score: 🔍

Exploitinginfo

Class: Privileges management
CWE: CWE-269 / CWE-266
CAPEC: 🔍
ATT&CK: 🔍

Physical: Partially
Local: Yes
Remote: No

Availability: 🔍
Status: Not defined

EPSS Score: 🔍
EPSS Percentile: 🔍

Price Prediction: 🔍
Current Price Estimation: 🔍

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Nessus ID: 29229
Nessus Name: FreeBSD : GNU finger vulnerability (610bc692-a2ad-11dc-900c-000bcdc1757a)
Nessus File: 🔍
Nessus Risk: 🔍
Nessus Family: 🔍
Nessus Context: 🔍
Nessus Port: 🔍

OpenVAS ID: 59978
OpenVAS Name: FreeBSD Ports: gnu-finger
OpenVAS File: 🔍
OpenVAS Family: 🔍

Threat Intelligenceinfo

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

Countermeasuresinfo

Recommended: Upgrade
Status: 🔍

Reaction Time: 🔍
0-Day Time: 🔍
Exposure Time: 🔍

Timelineinfo

03/17/1995 🔍
07/21/1999 +1587 days 🔍
07/21/1999 +0 days 🔍
07/22/1999 +1 days 🔍
12/05/2007 +3058 days 🔍
12/07/2007 +2 days 🔍
12/11/2007 +4 days 🔍
06/21/2014 +2384 days 🔍
04/19/2026 +4320 days 🔍

Sourcesinfo

Vendor: gnu.org

Advisory: marc.info
Researcher: FIRST
Status: Confirmed

CVE: CVE-1999-1165 (🔍)
GCVE (CVE): GCVE-0-1999-1165
GCVE (VulDB): GCVE-100-14738
X-Force: 7175
SecurityFocus: 535 - GNU finger Privilege Dropping Vulnerabilities
OSVDB: 10874 - GNU fingerd Symlink Arbitrary Privileged File Access
Vulnerability Center: 17077 - GNU fingerd 1.37 Local Privilege Escalation, High

Entryinfo

Created: 06/21/2014 17:45
Updated: 04/19/2026 08:57
Changes: 06/21/2014 17:45 (73), 08/01/2019 14:25 (3), 04/19/2026 08:57 (18)
Complete: 🔍
Cache ID: 216::103

If you want to get best quality of vulnerability data, you may have to visit VulDB.

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