# CVE-1999-1091: Path traversal in n/a

> Local attackers can modify file permissions via symlink attacks in tin and rtin news readers due to insecure temporary file handling.

- **Severity:** Medium 5.0 (`AV:N/AC:L/Au:N/C:N/I:P/A:N`)
- **Exploited in the wild:** Not known
- **Login needed:** Not needed
- **Attackable:** Local or same network only
- **Victim action needed:** Not needed
- **Fix available:** No
- **Published:** 12 Sep 2001
- **Updated:** 1 Aug 2024
- **Also known as:** GHSA-5p4h-63fp-mmxg

## What is CVE-1999-1091?

CVE-1999-1091 is a medium-severity path traversal vulnerability in n/a, published on 12 Sep 2001. It can only be exploited from the same machine or local network, with no action from the victim.

### Official description

UNIX news readers tin and rtin create the /tmp/.tin_log file with insecure permissions and follow symlinks, which allows attackers to modify the permissions of files writable by the user via a symlink attack.

## Which versions are affected by CVE-1999-1091?

It affects 2 products.


Products: Rtin Rtin, Tin Tin.

## How do I fix CVE-1999-1091?

No fix has been published for CVE-1999-1091 yet. Limit exposure of the affected software until one is available.

## Is CVE-1999-1091 being exploited?

There is no known exploitation of CVE-1999-1091 in the wild and no public exploit code.

## Fix prompt for AI coding agents

```text
Check this codebase for CVE-1999-1091 and fix it if it is affected.

What it is: CVE-1999-1091 is a medium-severity path traversal vulnerability in n/a, published on 12 Sep 2001. 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-1999-1091 in the wild and no public exploit code.

Affected product: n/a. 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-1999-1091/ (Markdown: https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-1999-1091/index.md)
```

## Sources

- CVE record: https://www.cve.org/CVERecord?id=CVE-1999-1091
- NVD: https://nvd.nist.gov/vuln/detail/CVE-1999-1091
- OSV: https://osv.dev/vulnerability/CVE-1999-1091

---
From sbomify Insights: https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-1999-1091/
Summaries are generated and may contain mistakes; the official description above is the record.