.59 through 5.65 uses popen to process a forwarding host argument, which allows local users to gain root privileges by modifying the IFS (Internal Field Separator) variable and passing crafted values to the -oR option. NIST National Vulnerability Database (NVD) -- services.nvd.nist.gov (CVE / CVSS / CPE). {"cve":{"id":"CVE-1999-1580","sourceIdentifier":"cve@mitre.org","published":"1995-08-23T04:00:00.000","lastModified":"2026-06-16T21:50:45.923","vulnStatus":"Modified","cveTags":[],"descriptions":[{"lang":"en","value":"SunOS sendmail 5.59 through 5.65 uses popen to process a forwarding host argument, which allows local users to gain root privileges by modifying the IFS (Internal Field Separator) variable and passing crafted values to the -oR option."}],"affected":[{"source":"cve@mitre.org","affectedData":[{"vendor":"n/a","product":"n/a","versions":[{"version":"n/a","status":"affected"}]}]}],"metrics":{"cvssMetricV2":[{"source":"nvd@nist.gov","type":"Primary","cvssData":{"version":"2.0","vectorString":"AV:L/AC:L/Au:N/C:C/I:C/A:C","baseScore":7.2,"accessVector":"LOCAL","accessComplexity":"LOW","authentication":"NONE","confidentialityImpact":"COMPLETE","integrityImpact":"COMPLETE","availabilityImpact":"COMPLETE"},"baseSeverity":"HIGH","exploitabilityScore":3.9,"impactScore":10.0,"acInsufInfo":false,"obtainAllPrivilege":true,"obtainUserPrivilege":false,"obtainOtherPrivilege":false,"userInteractionRequired":false}]},"weaknesses":[{"source":"nvd@nist.gov","type":"Primary","description":[{"lang":"en","value":"NVD-CWE-Other"}]}],"configurations":[{"nodes":[{"operator":"OR","negate":false,"cpeMatch":[{"vulnerable":true,"criteria":"cpe:2.3:a:sendmail:sendmail:5.59:*:*:*:*:*:*:*","matchCriteriaId":"5DFC5B8B-9102-46A9-9BD3-5CC0B671383F"},{"vulnerable":true,"criteria":"cpe:2.3:a:sendmail:sendmail:5.61:*:*:*:*:*:*:*","matchCriteriaId":"51BC02ED-17B1-44B3-97DB-F626A2BD2524"},{"vulnerable":true,"criteria":"cpe:2.3:a:sendmail:sendmail:5.65:*:*:*:*:*:*:*","matchCriteriaId":"EF58EBCB-5735-4569-957D-C37CC38F0823"}]}]},{"nodes":[{"operator":"OR","negate":false,"cpeMatch":[{"vulnerable":true,"criteria":"cpe:2.3:o:sun:sunos:4.1.1:*:*:*:*:*:*:*","matchCriteriaId":"92B19A06-832D-4974-9D08-2CE787228592"},{"vulnerable":true,"criteria":"cpe:2.3:o:sun:sunos:4.1.2:*:*:*:*:*:*:*","matchCriteriaId":"E3A07C67-66FB-4ECF-BECB-C2BE72A80F3B"},{"vulnerable":true,"criteria":"cpe:2.3:o:sun:sunos:4.1.3:*:*:*:*:*:*:*","matchCriteriaId":"615FA6E4-4DE0-422A-9220-F747D95192C9"},{"vulnerable":true,"criteria":"cpe:2.3:o:sun:sunos:4.1.3c:*:*:*:*:*:*:*","matchCriteriaId":"915D5897-B5FF-4F26-936E-9BAEF2604A86"},{"vulnerable":true,"criteria":"cpe:2.3:o:sun:sunos:4.1.3u1:*:*:*:*:*:*:*","matchCriteriaId":"FD1BA107-F2D3-4F13-82EC-4576C429E3C1"},{"vulnerable":true,"criteria":"cpe:2.3:o:sun:sunos:4.1.4:*:*:*:*:*:*:*","matchCriteriaId":"1070749A-65E9-439A-A7CC-3CE529A5D5E7"},{"vulnerable":true,"criteria":"cpe:2.3:o:sun:sunos:4.1.4jl:*:*:*:*:*:*:*","matchCriteriaId":"44F62CC9-2145-4801-9C3E-4D7232E6BD68"}]}]}],"references":[{"url":"http://www.alw.nih.gov/Security/8lgm/8lgm-Advisory-21.html","source":"cve@mitre.org","tags":["Exploit"]},{"url":"http://www.auscert.org.au/render.html?it=1853&cid=1978","source":"cve@mitre.org","tags":["Vendor Advisory"]},{"url":"http://www.cert.org/advisories/CA-95.11.sun.sendmail-oR.vul","source":"cve@mitre.org","tags":["Patch","Third Party Advisory","US Government Resource"]},{"url":"http://www.kb.cert.org/vuls/id/3278","source":"cve@mitre.org","tags":["Third Party Advisory","US Government Resource"]},{"url":"http://www.securityfocus.com/bid/7829","source":"cve@mitre.org"},{"url":"http://www.alw.nih.gov/Security/8lgm/8lgm-Advisory-21.html","source":"af854a3a-2127-422b-91ae-364da2661108","tags":["Exploit"]},{"url":"http://www.auscert.org.au/render.html?it=1853&cid=1978","source":"af854a3a-2127-422b-91ae-364da2661108","tags":["Vendor Advisory"]},{"url":"http://www.cert.org/advisories/CA-95.11.sun.sendmail-oR.vul","source":"af854a3a-2127-422b-91ae-364da2661108","tags":["Patch","Third Party Advisory","US Government Resource"]},{"url":"http://www.kb.cert.org/vuls/id/3278","source":"af854a3a-2127-422b-91ae-364da2661108","tags":["Third Party Advisory","US Government Resource"]},{"url":"http://www.securityfocus.com/bid/7829","source":"af854a3a-2127-422b-91ae-364da2661108"}]}},