Security readout for executives and security teams
Plain-English summary
CVE-1999-1313 is an old local privilege escalation issue in the FreeBSD manual page reader, "man." FreeBSD 2.2 and earlier are reported affected. A user who already has local access could gain higher privileges using an unspecified command sequence. This mainly matters if very old FreeBSD systems still exist in production or sensitive networks.
Executive priority
Treat as a legacy-risk cleanup item, not an internet emergency. If FreeBSD 2.2 or earlier exists, prioritize containment or decommissioning because local users may be able to escalate privileges and vendor support is likely obsolete.
Technical view
The CVE record describes FreeBSD 2.2 and earlier "man" as allowing local users to gain privileges via a sequence of commands. The public record does not provide CVSS, CWE, patch details, or technical root cause. IBM X-Force tracks it as bsd-man-command-sequence(7348). No provided source indicates remote exploitation or active exploitation.
Likely exposure
Exposure is likely limited to legacy FreeBSD 2.2 or earlier systems where untrusted or low-privileged local users can run the man command. Modern FreeBSD versions are not identified as affected in the provided sources. Internet-facing exposure is not indicated because the issue is described as local.
Exploitation context
The attacker must already be a local user, according to the CVE description. The sources do not describe exploit maturity, prerequisites beyond local access, or observed attacks. It is not listed as CISA KEV in the provided bundle, so active exploitation should not be assumed.
Researcher notes
Public details are sparse. The record identifies the vulnerable component, affected FreeBSD generation, and local privilege impact, but not the command sequence, root cause, fixed version, or advisory text. Avoid assuming affected CPEs beyond FreeBSD 2.2 and earlier from the provided description.
Mitigation direction
- Inventory for FreeBSD 2.2 or earlier systems.
- Prioritize retirement or isolation of any affected legacy hosts.
- Check FreeBSD or vendor archives for historical advisories and fixes.
- Restrict local shell access to trusted administrators only.
- Monitor legacy hosts for unexpected privilege changes.
Validation and detection
- Confirm operating system version on FreeBSD assets.
- Determine whether the man utility is present and accessible.
- Review accounts with local interactive access.
- Check configuration management records for legacy FreeBSD exceptions.
- Document compensating controls for any host that cannot be retired.
Public sources used
Generated from the cited source records. This long-tail analysis has not been individually reviewed by a named human.
Conservative CVE-to-ATT&CK context
These mappings and lookup hints may be relevant to the vulnerability behavior, CWE, affected product, or exposure path. Glexia-inferred context is not an official MITRE, ATT&CK, CWE, or CVE Program mapping.
ATT&CK lookup starting points
Use these exact CWE pages and searches to review the Glexia ATT&CK library from this CVE's weakness and description context.
CVE-1999-1313 mapping review
Open the CVE-to-ATT&CK bridge for reviewed, inferred, or future official mappings tied to this CVE.
Open ATT&CK lookup- Severity
- Unknown
- CVSS
- Not scored
- Known Exploited
- No
- Published
CNA and ADP enrichment extracted from CVE v5
These fields come from the CVE record and ADP containers, not from Glexia's Take. They preserve time-varying source decisions such as CISA SSVC, KEV status, CVSS metrics, and provider references.
CVSS and timeline data
No CVSS vectors or timeline events were available in the normalized CVE source material.
Source materials
- CVE List V5 sourceCVE List V5
- bsd-man-command-sequence(7348)CVE reference · vdb-entry, x_refsource_XF
Products and packages named in the record
CWE details
CWE links open Glexia weakness intelligence pages with official CWE context, developer remediation guidance, and related CVE mappings.