CVE-2009-1185 Privilege escalation in n/a

High 7.2 Published 17 Apr 2009 Updated 7 Aug 2024

Local attackers can gain privileges by sending spoofed NETLINK messages to udev due to missing kernel origin verification.

Exploited in the wild: Not known
Login needed: Any signed-in user
Attackable: Local or same network only
Victim action needed: Not needed
Fix: Available

What is CVE-2009-1185?

CVE-2009-1185 is a high-severity vulnerability in Canonical Ubuntu Linux, published on 17 Apr 2009. It can only be exploited from the same machine or local network, with no action from the victim.

Official description

udev before 1.4.1 does not verify whether a NETLINK message originates from kernel space, which allows local users to gain privileges by sending a NETLINK message from user space.

Weakness: CWE-346

Which versions are affected by CVE-2009-1185?

It affects 9 products.

Linux distribution packages (10)

`libvolume_id` Red Hat:enterprise_linux:5::client	All versions	`0:095-14.20.el5_3`
`udev` Red Hat:enterprise_linux:5::client	All versions	`0:095-14.20.el5_3`
`udev-debuginfo` Red Hat:enterprise_linux:5::client	All versions	`0:095-14.20.el5_3`
`libvolume_id-devel` Red Hat:enterprise_linux:5::client_workstation	All versions	`0:095-14.20.el5_3`
`udev` Red Hat:enterprise_linux:5::client_workstation	All versions	`0:095-14.20.el5_3`
`udev-debuginfo` Red Hat:enterprise_linux:5::client_workstation	All versions	`0:095-14.20.el5_3`
`libvolume_id` Red Hat:enterprise_linux:5::server	All versions	`0:095-14.20.el5_3`
`libvolume_id-devel` Red Hat:enterprise_linux:5::server	All versions	`0:095-14.20.el5_3`
`udev` Red Hat:enterprise_linux:5::server	All versions	`0:095-14.20.el5_3`
`udev-debuginfo` Red Hat:enterprise_linux:5::server	All versions	`0:095-14.20.el5_3`

Products include Canonical Ubuntu Linux, Debian Debian Linux, Fedoraproject Fedora, Juniper Ctpview, Opensuse Opensuse, Suse Linux Enterprise Debuginfo and 3 more.

How do I fix CVE-2009-1185?

Upgrade to a fixed version.

Is CVE-2009-1185 being exploited?

It is not confirmed as exploited in the wild, but public exploit code for CVE-2009-1185 exists.

Public exploit code: 1 Metasploit module, 3 Exploit-DB entries and 2 proofs of concept on GitHub.

All Canonical Ubuntu Linux vulnerabilities

Sources

Also known as GHSA-3cx7-86h6-xwmp, MINI-x8hh-mh62-82mg, RHSA-2009:0427.