# CVE-2009-1046: Memory corruption in n/a

> A local attacker with physical access can cause a denial of service via memory corruption in the Linux kernel console selection feature when UTF-8 is enabled.

- **Severity:** Medium 4.7 (`AV:L/AC:M/Au:N/C:N/I:N/A:C`)
- **Exploited in the wild:** Not known
- **Login needed:** Not needed
- **Attackable:** Local or same network only
- **Victim action needed:** A user has to click or open something
- **Fix available:** Yes
- **Published:** 23 Mar 2009
- **Updated:** 7 Aug 2024
- **Also known as:** GHSA-76f5-x782-3pq8

## What is CVE-2009-1046?

CVE-2009-1046 is a medium-severity memory corruption vulnerability in Linux kernel, published on 23 Mar 2009. It can only be exploited from the same machine or local network, and only if a user opens a file or follows a link.

### Official description

The console selection feature in the Linux kernel 2.6.28 before 2.6.28.4, 2.6.25, and possibly earlier versions, when the UTF-8 console is used, allows physically proximate attackers to cause a denial of service (memory corruption) by selecting a small number of 3-byte UTF-8 characters, which triggers an "off-by-two memory error." NOTE: it is not clear whether this issue crosses privilege boundaries.

Weakness: CWE-399

## Which versions are affected by CVE-2009-1046?

It affects 1 product.


Products: Linux kernel.

## How do I fix CVE-2009-1046?

Apply the vendor's patch.

## Is CVE-2009-1046 being exploited?

It is not confirmed as exploited in the wild, but public exploit code for CVE-2009-1046 exists.

Public exploit code:

- Linux Kernel 2.6.24_16-23/2.6.27_7-10/2.6.28.3 (Ubuntu 8.04/8.10 / Fedora Core 10 x86-64) - 'set_selection()' UTF-8 Off-by-One Privilege Escalation (exploitdb)

## Other vulnerabilities in Linux kernel

- [CVE-2026-53266](https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2026-53266/): Linux Kernel Out-of-Bounds Write (high 8.8, exploited in the wild)
- [CVE-2013-6282](https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2013-6282/): Linux Kernel Improper Input Validation (high 8.8, exploited in the wild)
- [CVE-2022-0185](https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2022-0185/): Linux Kernel Heap-Based Buffer Overflow (high 8.4, exploited in the wild)
- [CVE-2013-2094](https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2013-2094/): Linux Kernel Privilege Escalation (high 8.4, exploited in the wild)
- [CVE-2026-53362](https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2026-53362/): Linux Kernel Unspecified (high 7.8, exploited in the wild)

## Fix prompt for AI coding agents

```text
Check this codebase for CVE-2009-1046 and fix it if it is affected.

What it is: CVE-2009-1046 is a medium-severity memory corruption vulnerability in Linux kernel, published on 23 Mar 2009. It can only be exploited from the same machine or local network, and only if a user opens a file or follows a link.
Exploitation: It is not confirmed as exploited in the wild, but public exploit code for CVE-2009-1046 exists.

Affected product: Linux kernel. 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-2009-1046/ (Markdown: https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2009-1046/index.md)
```

## Sources

- CVE record: https://www.cve.org/CVERecord?id=CVE-2009-1046
- NVD: https://nvd.nist.gov/vuln/detail/CVE-2009-1046
- OSV: https://osv.dev/vulnerability/CVE-2009-1046

---
From sbomify Insights: https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2009-1046/
Summaries are generated and may contain mistakes; the official description above is the record.