# CVE-1999-0138: Privilege escalation in n/a

> Local attackers can gain root privileges because suidperl fails to drop root access when switching back to the original user ID.

- **Severity:** High 7.2 (`AV:L/AC:L/Au:N/C:C/I:C/A:C`)
- **Exploited in the wild:** Not known
- **Login needed:** Any signed-in user
- **Attackable:** Local or same network only
- **Victim action needed:** Not needed
- **Fix available:** No
- **Published:** 29 Sep 1999
- **Updated:** 1 Aug 2024
- **Also known as:** GHSA-785w-f5m3-3g56

## What is CVE-1999-0138?

CVE-1999-0138 is a high-severity vulnerability in Freebsd Freebsd, published on 29 Sep 1999. It can only be exploited from the same machine or local network, with no action from the victim.

### Official description

The suidperl and sperl program do not give up root privileges when changing UIDs back to the original users, allowing root access.

## Which versions are affected by CVE-1999-0138?

It affects 9 products.


Products: Apple a Ux, Digital Osf 1, Freebsd Freebsd, Hp Hp-Ux, Ibm Aix, Linux kernel, Nec Asl Ux 4800, Nec Ews-Ux V, Nec Up-Ux V.

## How do I fix CVE-1999-0138?

No fix has been published for CVE-1999-0138 yet. Limit exposure of the affected software until one is available.

## Is CVE-1999-0138 being exploited?

There is no known exploitation of CVE-1999-0138 in the wild and no public exploit code.

## Other vulnerabilities in Freebsd Freebsd

- [CVE-1999-1102](https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-1999-1102/): Path traversal in n/a (low 2.1)

## Fix prompt for AI coding agents

```text
Check this codebase for CVE-1999-0138 and fix it if it is affected.

What it is: CVE-1999-0138 is a high-severity vulnerability in Freebsd Freebsd, published on 29 Sep 1999. It can only be exploited from the same machine or local network, with no action from the victim.
Exploitation: There is no known exploitation of CVE-1999-0138 in the wild and no public exploit code.

Affected product: Freebsd Freebsd. No package-level version data is available, so check the vendor advisory linked from the reference page.

Task:
1. Search the dependency manifests and lockfiles (for example package.json, package-lock.json, requirements.txt, poetry.lock, uv.lock, pom.xml, build.gradle, go.mod, Cargo.lock, Gemfile.lock) and any Dockerfiles for the affected packages, including transitive dependencies.
2. If an affected version is in use, upgrade it to the fixed version for its release line with the project's package manager, so the lockfile is regenerated. Prefer the smallest upgrade that fixes it.
3. If there is no fix, or the upgrade would break the build, do not guess: explain the risk and the safest workaround instead.
4. Run the tests and summarise what changed and why.
5. If nothing in the project is affected, say so and change nothing.

Reference: https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-1999-0138/ (Markdown: https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-1999-0138/index.md)
```

## Sources

- CVE record: https://www.cve.org/CVERecord?id=CVE-1999-0138
- NVD: https://nvd.nist.gov/vuln/detail/CVE-1999-0138
- OSV: https://osv.dev/vulnerability/CVE-1999-0138

---
From sbomify Insights: https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-1999-0138/
Summaries are generated and may contain mistakes; the official description above is the record.