Permissions, Privileges, and Access Controls in PHP - CVE-2009-4018
Published: October 30, 2018 / Updated: June 8, 2025
Vulnerability identifier: #VU110317
CSH Severity: Medium
CVSS v4.0: CVSS:4.0/AV:N/AC:L/AT:N/PR:N/UI:N/VC:L/VI:L/VA:L/SC:N/SI:N/SA:N/E:P/U:Green
CVE-ID: CVE-2009-4018
CWE-ID: CWE-264
Exploitation vector: Remote access
Exploit availability:
Public exploit is available
Vendor: PHP Group
Affected software:
PHP
PHP
Detailed vulnerability description
The vulnerability allows a remote non-authenticated attacker to read and manipulate data.
The proc_open function in ext/standard/proc_open.c in PHP before 5.2.11 and 5.3.x before 5.3.1 does not enforce the (1) safe_mode_allowed_env_vars and (2) safe_mode_protected_env_vars directives, which allows context-dependent attackers to execute programs with an arbitrary environment via the env parameter, as demonstrated by a crafted value of the LD_LIBRARY_PATH environment variable.
How to mitigate CVE-2009-4018
Install update from vendor's website.
Sources
- http://bugs.php.net/bug.php?id=49026
- http://marc.info/?l=bugtraq&m=127680701405735&w=2
- http://marc.info/?l=oss-security&m=125886770008678&w=2
- http://marc.info/?l=oss-security&m=125897935330618&w=2
- http://secunia.com/advisories/40262
- http://secunia.com/advisories/41480
- http://secunia.com/advisories/41490
- http://svn.php.net/viewvc/?view=revision&revision=286360
- http://svn.php.net/viewvc/php/php-src/branches/PHP_5_2/ext/standard/proc_open.c?r1=286360&r2=286359&pathrev=286360
- http://svn.php.net/viewvc/php/php-src/branches/PHP_5_3/ext/standard/proc_open.c?r1=286360&r2=286359&pathrev=286360
- http://www.itrc.hp.com/service/cki/docDisplay.do?docId=emr_na-c02512995
- http://www.mandriva.com/security/advisories?name=MDVSA-2009:303
- http://www.openwall.com/lists/oss-security/2009/11/23/15
- http://www.php.net/ChangeLog-5.php
- http://www.securityfocus.com/bid/37138
- https://oval.cisecurity.org/repository/search/definition/oval%3Aorg.mitre.oval%3Adef%3A7256