CVE-1999-1434login in Slackware Linux 3.2 through 3.5 does not properly check for an error when the /etc/group file is missing, which prevents it from…
- 7.2HighCVSS base score
- 0.79%Exploitation in 30 daysEPSS · top 43% of all CVEs
- NoKnown exploitednot in CISA's KEV catalog
- 1Public exploitsMetasploit, Nuclei and Exploit-DB
Description
login in Slackware Linux 3.2 through 3.5 does not properly check for an error when the /etc/group file is missing, which prevents it from dropping privileges, causing it to assign root privileges to any local user who logs on to the server.
Public exploit
An exploit or proof of concept is public: anyone can try it against an unpatched system. The public collections list an Exploit-DB entry for it.
Show the exploits1
Exploit-DB1 entry
- Slackware Linux 3.5 - '/etc/group' Local Privilege Escalation (Exploit-DB entry) (opens in a new tab)
EDB-ID 19122local, linuxpublished 13 Jul 1998Verified
Modules, templates and exploits as listed by the Metasploit Framework (BSD-3-Clause), ProjectDiscovery's Nuclei templates (MIT) and the Exploit Database (GPLv2), read once a day. Where the data comes from
Timeline
ID reserved
By mitre
- 12 days later
· 12 days later
Published
- 23 years later
· 23 years later
Record updated
Changes after publication (a new score, a public exploit, EPSS crossing 1, 10 or 50 %, leaving KEV) are kept since November 2026; earlier ones are not known.
Scores
| Scored by | CVSS | Score | Vector |
|---|---|---|---|
| NVDNVD · Modified | 2.0 | High7.2 | AV:L/AC:L/Au:N/C:C/I:C/A:C |
- EPSS (exploitation in 30 days)
- 0.79% · top 43% of all CVEs (14 Nov 2026)
The list uses the assigner's score when there is one, then CISA's, then NVD's: High 7.2.
Affected products
n/a
- affected n/a
References
References2
- 155 (opens in a new tab)vdb-entryx_refsource_BIDx_transferred
- 19980713 Slackware Shadow Insecurity (opens in a new tab)mailing-listx_refsource_BUGTRAQx_transferred
Sources
The same CVE in the primary databases and aggregators, to check against.
- CVE.org record (opens in a new tab)
- CVE List JSON (GitHub) (opens in a new tab)
- NVD (opens in a new tab)
- FIRST EPSS (opens in a new tab)
- EUVD EUVD-1999-1415 (opens in a new tab)
- OSV.dev (opens in a new tab)
- GitHub Advisories (opens in a new tab)
- CIRCL Vulnerability-Lookup (opens in a new tab)
Badge for a README or a ticket
[](https://cveledger.app/cve/CVE-1999-1434)Record last updated .