# CVE-1999-1517: Privilege escalation in n/a

> A local user can escalate privileges to root or read/modify arbitrary files by exploiting how the Amanda backup system executes tar.

- **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-5j68-mxr4-4v27

## What is CVE-1999-1517?

CVE-1999-1517 is a high-severity vulnerability in Freebsd Freebsd, 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

runtar in the Amanda backup system used in various UNIX operating systems executes tar with root privileges, which allows a user to overwrite or read arbitrary files by providing the target files to runtar.

## Which versions are affected by CVE-1999-1517?

It affects 1 product.


Products: Freebsd Freebsd.

## How do I fix CVE-1999-1517?

No fix has been published for CVE-1999-1517 yet. Limit exposure of the affected software until one is available.

## Is CVE-1999-1517 being exploited?

There is no known exploitation of CVE-1999-1517 in the wild and no public exploit code.

## Other vulnerabilities in Freebsd Freebsd

- [CVE-2018-17160](https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2018-17160/): Memory corruption in FreeBSD (critical 10.0)
- [CVE-2014-3954](https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2014-3954/): Memory corruption in n/a (critical 10.0)
- [CVE-2006-4304](https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2006-4304/): Memory corruption in n/a (critical 10.0)
- [CVE-2006-0226](https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2006-0226/): Integer overflow in n/a (critical 10.0)
- [CVE-2004-0002](https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2004-0002/): Denial of service in n/a (critical 10.0)

## Fix prompt for AI coding agents

```text
Check this codebase for CVE-1999-1517 and fix it if it is affected.

What it is: CVE-1999-1517 is a high-severity vulnerability in Freebsd Freebsd, 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-1999-1517 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-1999-1517/ (Markdown: https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-1999-1517/index.md)
```

## Sources

- CVE record: https://www.cve.org/CVERecord?id=CVE-1999-1517
- NVD: https://nvd.nist.gov/vuln/detail/CVE-1999-1517
- OSV: https://osv.dev/vulnerability/CVE-1999-1517

---
From sbomify Insights: https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-1999-1517/
Summaries are generated and may contain mistakes; the official description above is the record.