# CVE-1999-1194: Digital Ultrix privilege escalation in chroot

Source: https://junglewise.ai/threats/cve-1999-1194-digital-ultrix-privilege-escalation-in-chroot  
Publisher: Junglewise Threat Intelligence, https://junglewise.ai/threats  
Published: 1991-05-01. Updated: 2026-05-10  
License: CC BY 4.0 with a link back

CVE-1999-1194 · Severity: high · CVSS 7.2 · Published 1991-05-01

A security flaw in the Digital Ultrix operating system allows local users to bypass security restrictions. By exploiting an improperly installed system utility, a user with limited access can gain full administrative control over the system. This could lead to unauthorized access to sensitive data, system-wide outages, or complete compromise of the server.

## Quick answers

**Is CVE-1999-1194 exploited in the wild?** No. Junglewise Threat Intelligence has no report of CVE-1999-1194 being exploited in the wild.

**How severe is CVE-1999-1194?** High severity, with a CVSS score of 7.2, published 1 May 1991.

**Which products and versions are affected?** Digital Ultrix 4.0, 4.1.

**Is there a fix for CVE-1999-1194?** 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-1999-1194 attacked?** It is attacked with local access, in an operating system.

**Am I affected by CVE-1999-1194?** Check whether anything you run is named in the advisory. 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

The chroot utility in Digital Ultrix versions 4.0 and 4.1 is improperly installed, leading to a privilege escalation vulnerability. While the specific mechanism (such as setuid bits or directory permissions) is not detailed in the legacy advisory, the flaw allows a local attacker to break out of restricted environments or manipulate the system to gain root access. This is a local attack requiring no special authentication beyond initial system access. The vulnerability was originally identified in 1991 and is addressed in subsequent vendor patches or version upgrades.

## Affected products

- Digital Ultrix 4.0, 4.1

## Timeline

- 1991-05-01: disclosed: Initial disclosure of the vulnerability
- 1991-05-01: advisory: CERT advisory CA-1991-05 released

## References

- [http://www.cert.org/advisories/CA-1991-05.html](http://www.cert.org/advisories/CA-1991-05.html)
- [http://www.securityfocus.com/bid/17](http://www.securityfocus.com/bid/17)
- [https://exchange.xforce.ibmcloud.com/vulnerabilities/577](https://exchange.xforce.ibmcloud.com/vulnerabilities/577)