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Vulnerability record · CVE-1999-0128 · published 18 December 1996

CVE-1999-0128: Oversized ICMP ping packets cause denial of service (Ping o' Death)

DDigital · Osf 1

Sending oversized ICMP ping packets can crash or hang affected TCP/IP stacks, a flaw known as Ping o' Death. It matters because a single unauthenticated remote packet can take a host offline, and the record lists multiple legacy operating systems as affected.

5.0 CVSS 2.0 Medium EPSS 75% · top 0.5%
5.0CVSS 2.0 base score
75%EPSS exploitation probability, 30 days
NoNot in CISA KEV
9Affected product versions listed by NVD
2References
16 Jun 2026Last modified by NVD

Description

Oversized ICMP ping packets can result in a denial of service, aka Ping o' Death.

AV:N/AC:L/Au:N/C:N/I:N/A:P

Automated analysis

Generated by VULONE's analysis model from the NVD record, CISA KEV and EPSS data on 18 September 2026. Confidence: medium.

medium priorityRemote unauthenticated availability impact with very high EPSS, but only partial impact (CVSS 5.0) and no confirmed in-the-wild exploitation or KEV listing.

What it is

Sending oversized ICMP ping packets can crash or hang affected TCP/IP stacks, a flaw known as Ping o' Death. It matters because a single unauthenticated remote packet can take a host offline, and the record lists multiple legacy operating systems as affected.

Impact

An attacker can cause a denial of service, taking the targeted host or its network stack out of service. No confidentiality or integrity impact is described; only availability is affected.

Attack surface

Reachable over the network via ICMP with no authentication and no user interaction, per the AV:N/AC:L/Au:N vector. Any host that responds to ICMP on an affected stack is exposed.

Exploitation

Not listed in CISA KEV and no ransomware use is documented, but EPSS is very high (0.745, 99.5th percentile), indicating substantial predicted exploitation activity. The two references carry no exploit tags.

What to do

  • Patch or upgrade the affected operating system or TCP/IP stack to a version that handles oversized ICMP packets.
  • Block or rate-limit inbound ICMP echo requests at the network perimeter and on host firewalls where ICMP is not required.
  • Disable ICMP echo replies on hosts that do not need to be pingable.
  • Segment or retire end-of-life systems (AIX, SunOS, SCO OpenServer, OSF/1, Linux kernel) that cannot be patched.

Detection

  • Monitor for inbound ICMP echo requests with abnormally large payloads or fragmented ICMP traffic.
  • Alert on host unresponsiveness, reboots, or kernel panics correlated with ICMP bursts.
  • Baseline normal ICMP volume per host and flag spikes or oversized-packet patterns.

This assessment is produced automatically and is not human-reviewed. Verify against the vendor advisory before acting on it.

Affected products

9 vulnerable configurations from NVD's CPE data, grouped by vendor and product.

References

LinkTags
https://exchange.xforce.ibmcloud.com/vulnerabilities/CVE-1999-0128
https://exchange.xforce.ibmcloud.com/vulnerabilities/CVE-1999-0128

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Source: NIST National Vulnerability Database (record CVE-1999-0128), CISA KEV, FIRST EPSS (scores of 2026-09-26). This page is refreshed as NVD updates the record.