# CVE-2009-4146: Privilege escalation in n/a

> Local attackers can gain privileges by exploiting a failure to clear LD_PRELOAD in the FreeBSD runtime linker when executing setuid programs.

- **Severity:** High 7.2 (`AV:L/AC:L/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:** 2 Dec 2009
- **Updated:** 7 Aug 2024
- **Also known as:** GHSA-q9qx-32qq-p7r3

## What is CVE-2009-4146?

CVE-2009-4146 is a high-severity vulnerability in Freebsd Freebsd, published on 2 Dec 2009. It can only be exploited from the same machine or local network, with no action from the victim.

### Official description

The _rtld function in the Run-Time Link-Editor (rtld) in libexec/rtld-elf/rtld.c in FreeBSD 7.1, 7.2, and 8.0 does not clear the LD_PRELOAD environment variable, which allows local users to gain privileges by executing a setuid or setguid program with a modified LD_PRELOAD variable containing an untrusted search path that points to a Trojan horse library, a different vector than CVE-2009-4147.

Weakness: CWE-264

## Which versions are affected by CVE-2009-4146?

It affects 1 product.


Products: Freebsd Freebsd.

## How do I fix CVE-2009-4146?

No fix has been published for CVE-2009-4146 yet. Limit exposure of the affected software until one is available.

## Is CVE-2009-4146 being exploited?

It is not confirmed as exploited in the wild, but public exploit code for CVE-2009-4146 exists.

Public exploit code:

- FreeBSD 8.0 Run-Time Link-Editor (RTLD) - Local Privilege Escalation (exploitdb)
- FreeBSD rtld execl() Privilege Escalation (metasploit)

## Other vulnerabilities in Freebsd Freebsd

- [CVE-2018-17160](https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2018-17160/): Memory corruption in FreeBSD (critical 10.0)
- [CVE-2014-3954](https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2014-3954/): Memory corruption in n/a (critical 10.0)
- [CVE-2006-4304](https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2006-4304/): Memory corruption in n/a (critical 10.0)
- [CVE-2006-0226](https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2006-0226/): Integer overflow in n/a (critical 10.0)
- [CVE-2004-0002](https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2004-0002/): Denial of service in n/a (critical 10.0)

## Fix prompt for AI coding agents

```text
Check this codebase for CVE-2009-4146 and fix it if it is affected.

What it is: CVE-2009-4146 is a high-severity vulnerability in Freebsd Freebsd, published on 2 Dec 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-2009-4146 exists.

Affected product: Freebsd Freebsd. 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-2009-4146/ (Markdown: https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2009-4146/index.md)
```

## Sources

- CVE record: https://www.cve.org/CVERecord?id=CVE-2009-4146
- NVD: https://nvd.nist.gov/vuln/detail/CVE-2009-4146
- OSV: https://osv.dev/vulnerability/CVE-2009-4146

---
From sbomify Insights: https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2009-4146/
Summaries are generated and may contain mistakes; the official description above is the record.