# CVE-2009-3111: Denial of service in n/a

> Remote attackers can crash the FreeRADIUS server by sending zero-length Tunnel-Password attributes, causing a denial of service.

- **Severity:** Medium 5.0 (`AV:N/AC:L/Au:N/C:N/I:N/A:P`)
- **Exploited in the wild:** Not known
- **Login needed:** Not needed
- **Attackable:** Over the internet
- **Victim action needed:** Not needed
- **Fix available:** Yes
- **Published:** 9 Sep 2009
- **Updated:** 7 Aug 2024
- **Also known as:** CVE-2009-4481, DEBIAN-CVE-2009-3111, GHSA-q2fp-fcx5-hff3, RHSA-2009:1451

## What is CVE-2009-3111?

CVE-2009-3111 is a medium-severity denial of service vulnerability in n/a, published on 9 Sep 2009. An attacker can exploit it over the internet without logging in, with no action from the victim.

### Official description

The rad_decode function in FreeRADIUS before 1.1.8 allows remote attackers to cause a denial of service (radiusd crash) via zero-length Tunnel-Password attributes, as demonstrated by a certain module in VulnDisco Pack Professional 7.6 through 8.11.  NOTE: this is a regression error related to CVE-2003-0967.

## Which versions are affected by CVE-2009-3111?

It affects 1 product.


| Package | Ecosystem | Affected | Fixed in |
| --- | --- | --- | --- |
| `freeradius` | Red Hat:enterprise_linux:5::client_workstation | All versions | 0:1.1.3-1.5.el5_4 |
| `freeradius-debuginfo` | Red Hat:enterprise_linux:5::client_workstation | All versions | 0:1.1.3-1.5.el5_4 |
| `freeradius-mysql` | Red Hat:enterprise_linux:5::client_workstation | All versions | 0:1.1.3-1.5.el5_4 |
| `freeradius-postgresql` | Red Hat:enterprise_linux:5::client_workstation | All versions | 0:1.1.3-1.5.el5_4 |
| `freeradius-unixODBC` | Red Hat:enterprise_linux:5::client_workstation | All versions | 0:1.1.3-1.5.el5_4 |
| `freeradius` | Red Hat:enterprise_linux:5::server | All versions | 0:1.1.3-1.5.el5_4 |
| `freeradius-debuginfo` | Red Hat:enterprise_linux:5::server | All versions | 0:1.1.3-1.5.el5_4 |
| `freeradius-mysql` | Red Hat:enterprise_linux:5::server | All versions | 0:1.1.3-1.5.el5_4 |
| `freeradius-postgresql` | Red Hat:enterprise_linux:5::server | All versions | 0:1.1.3-1.5.el5_4 |
| `freeradius-unixODBC` | Red Hat:enterprise_linux:5::server | All versions | 0:1.1.3-1.5.el5_4 |

Products: Freeradius Freeradius.

## How do I fix CVE-2009-3111?

Upgrade to a fixed version.

## Is CVE-2009-3111 being exploited?

It is not confirmed as exploited in the wild, but public exploit code for CVE-2009-3111 exists.

Public exploit code:

- FreeRadius < 1.1.8 - Zero-Length Tunnel-Password Denial of Service (exploitdb)

## Other vulnerabilities in n/a

- [CVE-2017-10979](https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2017-10979/): Memory corruption in n/a (critical 9.8)
- [CVE-2017-10984](https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2017-10984/): Memory corruption in n/a (critical 9.8)
- [CVE-2017-9148](https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2017-9148/): Auth bypass in n/a (critical 9.8)
- [CVE-2015-8763](https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2015-8763/): Memory corruption in n/a (high 8.1)
- [CVE-2015-8764](https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2015-8764/): Memory corruption in n/a (high 8.1)

## Fix prompt for AI coding agents

```text
Check this codebase for CVE-2009-3111 and fix it if it is affected.

What it is: CVE-2009-3111 is a medium-severity denial of service vulnerability in n/a, published on 9 Sep 2009. An attacker can exploit it over the internet without logging in, with no action from the victim.
Exploitation: It is not confirmed as exploited in the wild, but public exploit code for CVE-2009-3111 exists.

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-2009-3111/ (Markdown: https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2009-3111/index.md)
```

## Sources

- CVE record: https://www.cve.org/CVERecord?id=CVE-2009-3111
- NVD: https://nvd.nist.gov/vuln/detail/CVE-2009-3111
- OSV: https://osv.dev/vulnerability/CVE-2009-3111

---
From sbomify Insights: https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2009-3111/
Summaries are generated and may contain mistakes; the official description above is the record.