# CVE-1999-1165: Privilege escalation in n/a

> Local attackers can gain root privileges or read arbitrary files due to improper privilege dropping in GNU fingerd.

- **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:** 12 Sep 2001
- **Updated:** 1 Aug 2024
- **Also known as:** GHSA-mgmg-j29c-p5ff

## What is CVE-1999-1165?

CVE-1999-1165 is a high-severity 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

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.

## Which versions are affected by CVE-1999-1165?

It affects 1 product.


Products: Gnu Fingerd.

## How do I fix CVE-1999-1165?

No fix has been published for CVE-1999-1165 yet. Limit exposure of the affected software until one is available.

## Is CVE-1999-1165 being exploited?

There is no known exploitation of CVE-1999-1165 in the wild and no public exploit code.

## Other vulnerabilities in n/a

- [CVE-1999-0150](https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-1999-0150/): Command injection in n/a (high 7.5)

## Fix prompt for AI coding agents

```text
Check this codebase for CVE-1999-1165 and fix it if it is affected.

What it is: CVE-1999-1165 is a high-severity 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-1999-1165 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-1999-1165/ (Markdown: https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-1999-1165/index.md)
```

## Sources

- CVE record: https://www.cve.org/CVERecord?id=CVE-1999-1165
- NVD: https://nvd.nist.gov/vuln/detail/CVE-1999-1165
- OSV: https://osv.dev/vulnerability/CVE-1999-1165

---
From sbomify Insights: https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-1999-1165/
Summaries are generated and may contain mistakes; the official description above is the record.