# CVE-2009-1142: Path traversal in n/a

> Local attackers can escalate privileges via symlink attacks on temporary files when specific VMware Tools configurations are enabled.

- **Severity:** Medium 6.7 (`CVSS:3.1/AV:L/AC:L/PR:H/UI:N/S:U/C:H/I:H/A:H`)
- **Exploited in the wild:** Not known
- **Login needed:** An administrator
- **Attackable:** Local or same network only
- **Victim action needed:** Not needed
- **Fix available:** Yes
- **Published:** 23 Nov 2022
- **Updated:** 25 Apr 2025
- **Also known as:** DEBIAN-CVE-2009-1142, GHSA-gpcm-h3wc-3765

## What is CVE-2009-1142?

CVE-2009-1142 is a medium-severity path traversal vulnerability in n/a, published on 23 Nov 2022. It can only be exploited from the same machine or local network, with no action from the victim.

### Official description

An issue was discovered in open-vm-tools 2009.03.18-154848. Local users can gain privileges via a symlink attack on /tmp files if vmware-user-suid-wrapper is setuid root and the ChmodChownDirectory function is enabled.

Weakness: CWE-59 (Improper Link Resolution Before File Access)

## Which versions are affected by CVE-2009-1142?

It affects 1 product.


Products: Vmware Open Vm Tools.

## How do I fix CVE-2009-1142?

Apply the vendor's patch.

## Is CVE-2009-1142 being exploited?

There is no known exploitation of CVE-2009-1142 in the wild and no public exploit code.

## Fix prompt for AI coding agents

```text
Check this codebase for CVE-2009-1142 and fix it if it is affected.

What it is: CVE-2009-1142 is a medium-severity path traversal vulnerability in n/a, published on 23 Nov 2022. It can only be exploited from the same machine or local network, with no action from the victim.
Exploitation: There is no known exploitation of CVE-2009-1142 in the wild and no public exploit code.

Affected product: n/a. 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-2009-1142/ (Markdown: https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2009-1142/index.md)
```

## Sources

- CVE record: https://www.cve.org/CVERecord?id=CVE-2009-1142
- NVD: https://nvd.nist.gov/vuln/detail/CVE-2009-1142
- OSV: https://osv.dev/vulnerability/CVE-2009-1142

---
From sbomify Insights: https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2009-1142/
Summaries are generated and may contain mistakes; the official description above is the record.