# CVE-2009-5116: Auth bypass in n/a

> Remote authenticated users can escalate privileges to Admin access on the statistics server by exploiting improper client authentication in McAfee LinuxShield.

- **Severity:** Medium 6.5 (`AV:N/AC:L/Au:S/C:P/I:P/A:P`)
- **Exploited in the wild:** Not known
- **Login needed:** Any signed-in user
- **Attackable:** Over the internet
- **Victim action needed:** Not needed
- **Fix available:** No
- **Published:** 22 Aug 2012
- **Updated:** 16 Sep 2024
- **Also known as:** GHSA-4r8g-96wp-vqm6

## What is CVE-2009-5116?

CVE-2009-5116 is a medium-severity authentication bypass vulnerability in n/a, published on 22 Aug 2012. Any signed-in user can exploit it over the network, with no action from the victim.

### Official description

McAfee LinuxShield 1.5.1 and earlier does not properly implement client authentication, which allows remote authenticated users to obtain Admin access to the statistics server by leveraging a client account.

Weakness: CWE-287 (Improper Authentication)

## Which versions are affected by CVE-2009-5116?

It affects 1 product.


Products: Mcafee Linuxshield.

## How do I fix CVE-2009-5116?

No fix has been published for CVE-2009-5116 yet. Limit exposure of the affected software until one is available.

## Is CVE-2009-5116 being exploited?

There is no known exploitation of CVE-2009-5116 in the wild and no public exploit code.

## Fix prompt for AI coding agents

```text
Check this codebase for CVE-2009-5116 and fix it if it is affected.

What it is: CVE-2009-5116 is a medium-severity authentication bypass vulnerability in n/a, published on 22 Aug 2012. Any signed-in user can exploit it over the network, with no action from the victim.
Exploitation: There is no known exploitation of CVE-2009-5116 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-2009-5116/ (Markdown: https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2009-5116/index.md)
```

## Sources

- CVE record: https://www.cve.org/CVERecord?id=CVE-2009-5116
- NVD: https://nvd.nist.gov/vuln/detail/CVE-2009-5116
- OSV: https://osv.dev/vulnerability/CVE-2009-5116

---
From sbomify Insights: https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2009-5116/
Summaries are generated and may contain mistakes; the official description above is the record.