Mountd Vulnerabilities

CVE 1999-0002

Impact

A vulnerability in mountd could allow a remote attacker to cause a buffer to overflow, and to use the resulting condition to execute arbitrary code with root privileges.

Background

Network File System (NFS) is a service which allows a server to make file systems available to clients. The clients can mount NFS file systems and make them available locally. mountd is the process on the server which handles requests from clients to mount file systems.

The Problem

Some versions of mountd on Linux operating systems have a buffer overflow condition which could allow a remote attacker to gain root access. Other operating systems are not affected.

Resolution

If the system is not being used as an NFS server, then disable the mountd process. Otherwise, install a patch to fix the vulnerability. Check CERT Advisory 98.12 for information about obtaining patches for your particular version of Linux.

Where can I read more about this?

More about this vulnerability can be found in CERT Advisory 98.12.