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Fencer Intel
critical 9.8

CVE-2009-4488 in the critical feed json

Varnish 2.0.6 writes data to a log file without sanitizing non-printable characters, which might allow remote attackers to modify a window'…

published 16y ago modified 4mo ago also EUVD-2009-4455

cvss
9.8
version 3.1, CNA
cisa kev
Not listed
not in CISA's catalog
epss
13.0%
EPSS 13.0% chance of exploitation in 30 days, percentile 96%
public exploits
1
Exploit-DB

Summary

Varnish 2.0.6 writes data to a log file without sanitizing non-printable characters, which might allow remote attackers to modify a window's title, or possibly execute arbitrary commands or overwrite files, via an HTTP request containing an escape sequence for a terminal emulator. NOTE: the vendor disputes the significance of this report, stating that "This is not a security problem in Varnish or any other piece of software which writes a logfile. The real problem is the mistaken belief that you can cat(1) a random logfile to your terminal safely.

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Timeline

  1. First public exploit (EDB-33498)
  2. Published

CISA SSVC

Exploitation
none
Automatable
yes
Technical impact
total
Assessed
last yr.

Exploit prediction

13.00% chance of exploitation in the next 30 days, higher than 96% of all scored CVEs (FIRST EPSS, 2026-11-09).

Exploits and checks

  • EDB-33498 Varnish 2.0.6 - 'Terminal Escape Sequence in Logs' Command Injection remote, 2010-01-11
  • ush.it http://www.ush.it/team/ush/hack_httpd_escape/adv.txt referenced PoC, tagged "exploit" by a source, unverified
  • securityfocus.com http://www.securityfocus.com/bid/37713 referenced PoC, tagged "exploit" by a source, unverified

CVSS scores

assigned by version score vector
CISA ADP 3.1 9.8 CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:L/PR:N/UI:N/S:U/C:H/I:H/A:H
CNA 3.1 9.8 CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:L/PR:N/UI:N/S:U/C:H/I:H/A:H
NVD 2.0 5.0 AV:N/AC:L/Au:N/C:P/I:N/A:N

Classification

Weakness
  • CWE-1284 Improper Validation of Specified Quantity in Input
  • CWE-20 Improper Input Validation

References

Sources

Fencer Intel keeps one entry per vulnerability: the CVE id wins, then GHSA, and records that alias each other are merged, except that two CVEs always keep separate entries. The same data is available as JSON.