# CVE-2009-1786: Race condition in n/a

> Local attackers can overwrite arbitrary files via a symlink race condition in the AIX libc malloc debug logging feature.

- **Severity:** Medium 6.9 (`AV:L/AC:M/Au:N/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:** 26 May 2009
- **Updated:** 7 Aug 2024
- **Also known as:** GHSA-qx62-xcvw-248x

## What is CVE-2009-1786?

CVE-2009-1786 is a medium-severity vulnerability in Ibm Aix, published on 26 May 2009. It can only be exploited from the same machine or local network, with no action from the victim.

### Official description

The malloc subsystem in libc in IBM AIX 5.3 and 6.1 allows local users to create or overwrite arbitrary files via a symlink attack on the log file associated with the MALLOCDEBUG environment variable.

Weakness: CWE-362 (Concurrent Execution using Shared Resource with Improper Synchronization)

## Which versions are affected by CVE-2009-1786?

It affects 1 product.


Products: Ibm Aix.

## How do I fix CVE-2009-1786?

No fix has been published for CVE-2009-1786 yet. Limit exposure of the affected software until one is available.

## Is CVE-2009-1786 being exploited?

It is not confirmed as exploited in the wild, but public exploit code for CVE-2009-1786 exists.

Public exploit code:

- Kingsoft Webshield 1.1.0.62 - Cross-Site Scripting / Remote Command Execution (exploitdb)

## Other vulnerabilities in Ibm Aix

- [CVE-2025-36250](https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2025-36250/): AIX Code Execution (critical 10.0)
- [CVE-2024-56346](https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2024-56346/): IBM AIX command execution (critical 10.0)
- [CVE-2010-3187](https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2010-3187/): Memory corruption in n/a (critical 10.0)
- [CVE-2009-3699](https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2009-3699/): Memory corruption in n/a (critical 10.0)
- [CVE-2009-3517](https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2009-3517/): Auth bypass in n/a (critical 10.0)

## Fix prompt for AI coding agents

```text
Check this codebase for CVE-2009-1786 and fix it if it is affected.

What it is: CVE-2009-1786 is a medium-severity vulnerability in Ibm Aix, published on 26 May 2009. It can only be exploited from the same machine or local network, with no action from the victim.
Exploitation: It is not confirmed as exploited in the wild, but public exploit code for CVE-2009-1786 exists.

Affected product: Ibm Aix. 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-2009-1786/ (Markdown: https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2009-1786/index.md)
```

## Sources

- CVE record: https://www.cve.org/CVERecord?id=CVE-2009-1786
- NVD: https://nvd.nist.gov/vuln/detail/CVE-2009-1786
- OSV: https://osv.dev/vulnerability/CVE-2009-1786

---
From sbomify Insights: https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2009-1786/
Summaries are generated and may contain mistakes; the official description above is the record.