Comment by scottlamb

18 hours ago

    $ login -n root
    Login incorrect
    login: backdoor
    No home directory specified in password file!
    Logging in with home=/
    #

I think this is supposed to be something like CVE-1999-0113 (or its very recently discovered/disclosed friend CVE-2026-24061). It's the sort of thing you might just know off the top of your head that would be handy for getting into a computer that hasn't been updated in 20 years.

> something like CVE-1999-0113 (or its very recently discovered/disclosed friend CVE-2026-24061)

Interesting that you remember CVEs by ID and how they relate one to another. Do you know if they are visualization of CVEs? I'm wondering if that would help newcomers to security to get some memorable insights.

  • Oh, no, I remembered the actual exploits because they were comically trivial. I searched for them and found the ids to paste here. I don't in general follow security vulnerabilities closely enough to be the one to ask about CVE visualizations and the like.