# CVE-2009-0949: Null dereference in n/a

> Remote attackers can crash the CUPS daemon via a crafted IPP request, causing denial of service.

- **Severity:** High 7.5 (`CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:L/PR:N/UI:N/S:U/C:N/I:N/A:H`)
- **Exploited in the wild:** Not known
- **Login needed:** Not needed
- **Attackable:** Over the internet
- **Victim action needed:** Not needed
- **Fix available:** Yes
- **Published:** 9 Jun 2009
- **Updated:** 7 Aug 2024
- **Also known as:** DEBIAN-CVE-2009-0949, DSA-1811-1, GHSA-m37g-v637-95q3, RHSA-2009:1082

## What is CVE-2009-0949?

CVE-2009-0949 is a high-severity vulnerability in Apple Cups, published on 9 Jun 2009. An attacker can exploit it over the internet without logging in, with no action from the victim.

### Official description

The ippReadIO function in cups/ipp.c in cupsd in CUPS before 1.3.10 does not properly initialize memory for IPP request packets, which allows remote attackers to cause a denial of service (NULL pointer dereference and daemon crash) via a scheduler request with two consecutive IPP_TAG_UNSUPPORTED tags.

Weakness: CWE-908 (Use of Uninitialized Resource)

## Which versions are affected by CVE-2009-0949?

It affects 7 products.


| Package | Ecosystem | Affected | Fixed in |
| --- | --- | --- | --- |
| `cups` | Red Hat:enterprise_linux:5::client | All versions | 1:1.3.7-8.el5_3.6 |
| `cups-debuginfo` | Red Hat:enterprise_linux:5::client | All versions | 1:1.3.7-8.el5_3.6 |
| `cups-libs` | Red Hat:enterprise_linux:5::client | All versions | 1:1.3.7-8.el5_3.6 |
| `cups-lpd` | Red Hat:enterprise_linux:5::client | All versions | 1:1.3.7-8.el5_3.6 |
| `cups` | Red Hat:enterprise_linux:5::client_workstation | All versions | 1:1.3.7-8.el5_3.6 |
| `cups-debuginfo` | Red Hat:enterprise_linux:5::client_workstation | All versions | 1:1.3.7-8.el5_3.6 |
| `cups-devel` | Red Hat:enterprise_linux:5::client_workstation | All versions | 1:1.3.7-8.el5_3.6 |
| `cups` | Red Hat:enterprise_linux:5::server | All versions | 1:1.3.7-8.el5_3.6 |
| `cups-debuginfo` | Red Hat:enterprise_linux:5::server | All versions | 1:1.3.7-8.el5_3.6 |
| `cups-devel` | Red Hat:enterprise_linux:5::server | All versions | 1:1.3.7-8.el5_3.6 |
| `cups-libs` | Red Hat:enterprise_linux:5::server | All versions | 1:1.3.7-8.el5_3.6 |
| `cups-lpd` | Red Hat:enterprise_linux:5::server | All versions | 1:1.3.7-8.el5_3.6 |

Products: Apple Cups, Apple Mac Os X, Apple Mac Os X Server, Canonical Ubuntu Linux, Debian Debian Linux, Opensuse Opensuse, Suse Linux Enterprise.

## How do I fix CVE-2009-0949?

Upgrade to a fixed version.

## Is CVE-2009-0949 being exploited?

It is not confirmed as exploited in the wild, but public exploit code for CVE-2009-0949 exists.

Public exploit code:

- CUPS 1.3.9 - 'cups/ipp.c' Null Pointer Dereference Denial of Service (exploitdb)

## Other vulnerabilities in Apple Cups

- [CVE-2008-5184](https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2008-5184/): Cross-site request forgery in n/a (critical 10.0)
- [CVE-2008-3641](https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2008-3641/): Memory corruption in n/a (critical 10.0)
- [CVE-2008-0053](https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2008-0053/): Memory corruption in n/a (critical 10.0)
- [CVE-2012-6094](https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2012-6094/): Missing authorization in cups (critical 9.8)
- [CVE-2010-2941](https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2010-2941/): Use after free in n/a (critical 9.8)

## Fix prompt for AI coding agents

```text
Check this codebase for CVE-2009-0949 and fix it if it is affected.

What it is: CVE-2009-0949 is a high-severity vulnerability in Apple Cups, published on 9 Jun 2009. An attacker can exploit it over the internet without logging in, with no action from the victim.
Exploitation: It is not confirmed as exploited in the wild, but public exploit code for CVE-2009-0949 exists.

Affected product: Apple Cups. No package-level version data is available, so check the vendor advisory linked from the reference page.

Task:
1. Search the dependency manifests and lockfiles (for example package.json, package-lock.json, requirements.txt, poetry.lock, uv.lock, pom.xml, build.gradle, go.mod, Cargo.lock, Gemfile.lock) and any Dockerfiles for the affected packages, including transitive dependencies.
2. If an affected version is in use, upgrade it to the fixed version for its release line with the project's package manager, so the lockfile is regenerated. Prefer the smallest upgrade that fixes it.
3. If there is no fix, or the upgrade would break the build, do not guess: explain the risk and the safest workaround instead.
4. Run the tests and summarise what changed and why.
5. If nothing in the project is affected, say so and change nothing.

Reference: https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2009-0949/ (Markdown: https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2009-0949/index.md)
```

## Sources

- CVE record: https://www.cve.org/CVERecord?id=CVE-2009-0949
- NVD: https://nvd.nist.gov/vuln/detail/CVE-2009-0949
- OSV: https://osv.dev/vulnerability/CVE-2009-0949

---
From sbomify Insights: https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2009-0949/
Summaries are generated and may contain mistakes; the official description above is the record.