# CVE-1999-0042: University of Washington IMAP and POP buffer overflow

Source: https://junglewise.ai/threats/cve-1999-0042-university-of-washington-imap-and-pop-buffer-overflow  
Publisher: Junglewise Threat Intelligence, https://junglewise.ai/threats  
Published: 1997-04-07. Updated: 2026-05-10  
License: CC BY 4.0 with a link back

CVE-1999-0042 · Severity: critical · CVSS 10 · Published 1997-04-07

The University of Washington's email server software, which handles incoming and outgoing messages, contains a critical security flaw. An attacker can exploit this weakness over the internet to take complete control of the server without needing a username or password. This could lead to the theft of all hosted emails, a total shutdown of email services, or the use of the server to launch further attacks on the internal network.

Vendors: [University Of Washington](https://junglewise.ai/threats/vendors/university-of-washington).

## Quick answers

**Is CVE-1999-0042 exploited in the wild?** No. Junglewise Threat Intelligence has no report of CVE-1999-0042 being exploited in the wild.

**How severe is CVE-1999-0042?** Critical severity, with a CVSS score of 10, published 7 April 1997.

**Which products and versions are affected?** University Of Washington IMAP server All versions prior to 1997 patches; University Of Washington POP server All versions prior to 1997 patches.

**Is there a fix for CVE-1999-0042?** No fixed version is recorded yet. Check the vendor's advisory in the references below. If you run it, Junglewise drafts a mitigation that fits your setup and applies it once you approve, with senior security engineers behind it.

**How is CVE-1999-0042 attacked?** It is attacked over the network, in a hosted service.

**Am I affected by CVE-1999-0042?** Check whether you run University Of Washington IMAP server or University Of Washington POP server at an affected version. Junglewise does that check for you around the clock: connect your code, cloud and domains, and it matches new vulnerabilities like this one against what you actually run and tells you when one reaches you.

## Technical details

A classic buffer overflow exists in the University of Washington's implementation of the IMAP and POP3 protocols. The vulnerability is triggered by sending specially crafted, overly long commands or arguments to the listening service. Because the software fails to perform adequate bounds checking on these inputs, an unauthenticated remote attacker can overwrite memory to redirect execution flow. This typically results in arbitrary code execution with the privileges of the service (often root), leading to full system compromise. Patches were released by the vendor and various OS distributors following the initial disclosure in 1997.

## Affected products

- University of Washington IMAP server All versions prior to 1997 patches
- University of Washington POP server All versions prior to 1997 patches

## Timeline

- 1997-04-07: disclosed: Initial public disclosure of the vulnerability.

## References

- [https://exchange.xforce.ibmcloud.com/vulnerabilities/CVE-1999-0042](https://exchange.xforce.ibmcloud.com/vulnerabilities/CVE-1999-0042)