CVE-1999-1549

Exp

Lynx 2.x does not properly distinguish between internal and external HTML, which may allow a local attacker to read a "secure" hidden form value from a temporary file and craft a LYNXOPTIONS: URL that causes Lynx to modify the user's configuration file and execute commands.

Published: 1999-11-16 Last update: 2026-04-16 Assigner: [email protected] Source: [email protected]
NVD Status：Modified，CVE State: published
View at NVD, CVE.org, EUVD

CVE-1999-1549 is rated High Exploit Risk (61.5/100): CVSS High severity, with low exploitation likelihood (EPSS 0.58%). 2 public exploit reference(s) are indexed (Exploit-DB). Public exploits are available—assess exposure, apply mitigations, and prioritize patching.

Risk is dynamic; we continuously reassess and refresh what is shown on this page as upstream context changes.

Public exploit references (Exploit-DB) for CVE-1999-1549

EDB-ID Source Kind Published Link
— nvd_ref exploit_tag Exploit-DB ↗
— nvd_ref exploit_tag Exploit-DB ↗

Exploit prediction scoring system (EPSS) score for CVE-1999-1549

EPSS lead: Daily EPSS estimates relative likelihood of exploitation; percentile ranks this CVE among scored vulnerabilities (higher = more severe relative rank).

# Date Old EPSS score New EPSS score Delta (New - Old)
1 2026-06-15 0.24% 0.58% +0.34%
2 2025-03-17 0.07% 0.24% +0.17%
3 2024-12-17 — 0.07% —

Full EPSS history (7 records total)

Common vulnerability scoring system (CVSS) metrics for CVE-1999-1549

CVSS metrics for this CVE.

Base score Version Severity Vector Exploitability Impact Score source
7.8 3.1 HIGH
CVSS:3.1/AV:L/AC:L/PR:L/UI:N/S:U/C:H/I:H/A:H Click to expand
Attack vector (AV:L)
They already need access on the box, or another person has to do something wrong; it’s not a remote drive-by.
Attack complexity (AC:L)
Once they can reach the bug, pulling it off is straightforward—no weird race conditions or rare setup.
Privileges required (PR:L)
A normal user session is enough; they don’t have to be admin.
User interaction (UI:N)
Nobody has to click “OK” or open a trap file; it can work without a victim helping.
Scope (S:U)
Damage stays in the same “trust bubble” as the broken component—no big spill into unrelated systems.
Confidentiality (C:H)
Serious risk that confidential data gets exposed in a big way.
Integrity (I:H)
They could widely tamper with or forge data—trust in the data is badly hurt.
Availability (A:H)
Could take the service down hard or make it unusable for people who depend on it.
 1.8 5.9 [email protected]
5.0 2.0 MEDIUM
AV:N/AC:L/Au:N/C:P/I:N/A:N Click to expand
Access vector (AV:N)
Can be exploited remotely over network reachability.
Access complexity (AC:L)
Exploitation conditions are straightforward and predictable.
Authentication (AU:N)
No authentication is required.
Confidentiality impact (C:P)
Partial confidentiality impact.
Integrity impact (I:N)
No integrity impact.
Availability impact (A:N)
No availability impact.
 10.0 2.9 [email protected]

Weakness enumeration for CVE-1999-1549

Affected software / configurations for CVE-1999-1549

Vendor Product Version Raw CPE
lynx_project lynx 2.7 cpe:2.3:a:lynx_project:lynx:2.7:*:*:*:*:*:*:*
lynx_project lynx 2.8 cpe:2.3:a:lynx_project:lynx:2.8:*:*:*:*:*:*:*

References for CVE-1999-1549

URL Tags
http://marc.info/?l=bugtraq&m=94286509804526&w=2 Exploit Mailing List
http://www.securityfocus.com/bid/804 Broken Link Exploit Third Party Advisory VDB Entry Vendor Advisory
cvelogic Threat Intelligence