# CVE-1999-1491: Path traversal in n/a

> Local attackers can execute arbitrary commands by exploiting relative pathnames in abuse.console to run a Trojan horse program.

- **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-33qc-p77x-82rf

## What is CVE-1999-1491?

CVE-1999-1491 is a high-severity path traversal vulnerability in Redhat Linux, 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

abuse.console in Red Hat 2.1 uses relative pathnames to find and execute the undrv program, which allows local users to execute arbitrary commands via a path that points to a Trojan horse program.

## Which versions are affected by CVE-1999-1491?

It affects 1 product.


Products: Redhat Linux.

## How do I fix CVE-1999-1491?

No fix has been published for CVE-1999-1491 yet. Limit exposure of the affected software until one is available.

## Is CVE-1999-1491 being exploited?

It is not confirmed as exploited in the wild, but public exploit code for CVE-1999-1491 exists.

Public exploit code:

- RedHat Linux 2.1 - 'abuse.console' Local Privilege Escalation (exploitdb)

## Other vulnerabilities in Redhat Linux

- [CVE-2000-1220](https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2000-1220/): Privilege escalation in n/a (critical 10.0)
- [CVE-2003-0248](https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2003-0248/): Privilege escalation in n/a (critical 10.0)
- [CVE-1999-1542](https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-1999-1542/): Command injection in n/a (critical 10.0)
- [CVE-1999-1299](https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-1999-1299/): Privilege escalation in n/a (critical 10.0)
- [CVE-2000-0322](https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2000-0322/): Command injection in n/a (critical 10.0)

## Fix prompt for AI coding agents

```text
Check this codebase for CVE-1999-1491 and fix it if it is affected.

What it is: CVE-1999-1491 is a high-severity path traversal vulnerability in Redhat Linux, published on 12 Sep 2001. It can only be exploited from the same machine or local network, with no action from the victim.
Exploitation: It is not confirmed as exploited in the wild, but public exploit code for CVE-1999-1491 exists.

Affected product: Redhat Linux. 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-1999-1491/ (Markdown: https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-1999-1491/index.md)
```

## Sources

- CVE record: https://www.cve.org/CVERecord?id=CVE-1999-1491
- NVD: https://nvd.nist.gov/vuln/detail/CVE-1999-1491
- OSV: https://osv.dev/vulnerability/CVE-1999-1491

---
From sbomify Insights: https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-1999-1491/
Summaries are generated and may contain mistakes; the official description above is the record.