# CVE-2009-1542: Privilege escalation in n/a

> Guest OS users can execute arbitrary kernel-mode code and gain privileges within the guest OS via a crafted application due to improper instruction decoding.

- **Severity:** Critical 9.0 (`AV:N/AC:L/Au:S/C:C/I:C/A:C`)
- **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:** No
- **Published:** 15 Jul 2009
- **Updated:** 7 Aug 2024
- **Also known as:** GHSA-7v53-rx9j-jjwf

## What is CVE-2009-1542?

CVE-2009-1542 is a critical vulnerability in n/a, published on 15 Jul 2009. It can only be exploited from the same machine or local network, with no action from the victim.

### Official description

The Virtual Machine Monitor (VMM) in Microsoft Virtual PC 2004 SP1, 2007, and 2007 SP1, and Microsoft Virtual Server 2005 R2 SP1, does not enforce CPU privilege-level requirements for all machine instructions, which allows guest OS users to execute arbitrary kernel-mode code and gain privileges within the guest OS via a crafted application, aka "Virtual PC and Virtual Server Privileged Instruction Decoding Vulnerability."

Weakness: CWE-264

## Which versions are affected by CVE-2009-1542?

It affects 2 products.


Products: Microsoft Virtual Pc, Microsoft Virtual Server.

## How do I fix CVE-2009-1542?

No fix has been published for CVE-2009-1542 yet. Limit exposure of the affected software until one is available.

## Is CVE-2009-1542 being exploited?

There is no known exploitation of CVE-2009-1542 in the wild and no public exploit code.

## Other vulnerabilities in n/a

- [CVE-2010-1225](https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2010-1225/): Security feature bypass in n/a (critical 9.3)
- [CVE-2007-0948](https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2007-0948/): Memory corruption in n/a (critical 9.3)
- [CVE-2004-0115](https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2004-0115/): Path traversal in n/a (medium 4.6)

## Fix prompt for AI coding agents

```text
Check this codebase for CVE-2009-1542 and fix it if it is affected.

What it is: CVE-2009-1542 is a critical vulnerability in n/a, published on 15 Jul 2009. 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-2009-1542 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-2009-1542/ (Markdown: https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2009-1542/index.md)
```

## Sources

- CVE record: https://www.cve.org/CVERecord?id=CVE-2009-1542
- NVD: https://nvd.nist.gov/vuln/detail/CVE-2009-1542
- OSV: https://osv.dev/vulnerability/CVE-2009-1542

---
From sbomify Insights: https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2009-1542/
Summaries are generated and may contain mistakes; the official description above is the record.