Vulnerability Monitor

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CVE-2009-3294

The popen API function in TSRM/tsrm_win32.c in PHP before 5.2.11 and 5.3.x before 5.3.1, when running on certain Windows operating systems, allows context-dependent attackers to cause a denial of service (crash) via a crafted (1) "e" or (2) "er" string in the second argument (aka mode), possibly related to the _fdopen function in the Microsoft C runtime library. NOTE: this might not cross privilege boundaries except in rare cases in which the mode argument is accessible to an attacker outside of an application that uses the popen function.

Security Impact Summary

CVE-2009-3294 is a security vulnerability that . Impacting 4 products from php, from microsoft, from microsoft and 1 other, organizations running these solutions should prioritize assessment and patching.

Historical Context

Originally identified in 2009, this vulnerability predates many modern security frameworks and practices. The vulnerability landscape of that era was characterized by different threat models and less mature defense mechanisms compared to contemporary standards.

Published

2009-09-22T10:30:00.827

Last Modified

2025-04-09T00:30:58.490

Status

Deferred

Source

[email protected]

Severity

CVSSv2: 5.0 (MEDIUM)

CVSSv2 Vector

AV:N/AC:L/Au:N/C:N/I:N/A:P

Access Vector: NETWORK
Access Complexity: LOW
Authentication: NONE
Confidentiality Impact: NONE
Integrity Impact: NONE
Availability Impact: PARTIAL

Exploitability Score

10.0

Impact Score

2.9

Weaknesses

Type: Primary
CWE-134

Affected Vendors & Products

Type	Vendor	Product	Version/Range	Vulnerable?
Application	php	php	< 5.2.11	Yes
Application	php	php	< 5.3.1	Yes
Operating System	microsoft	windows_7	*	No
Operating System	microsoft	windows_server_2008	*	No
Operating System	microsoft	windows_xp	*	No

References

http://bugs.php.net/bug.php?id=44683 Exploit, Vendor Advisory ([email protected])
http://news.php.net/php.announce/79 Vendor Advisory ([email protected])
http://svn.php.net/viewvc?view=revision&revision=287779 Vendor Advisory ([email protected])
http://www.openwall.com/lists/oss-security/2009/09/20/1 Mailing List, Patch ([email protected])
http://www.openwall.com/lists/oss-security/2009/11/20/2 Mailing List ([email protected])
http://www.openwall.com/lists/oss-security/2009/11/20/3 Mailing List ([email protected])
http://www.osvdb.org/58188 Broken Link ([email protected])
http://www.php.net/ChangeLog-5.php Vendor Advisory ([email protected])
http://www.php.net/ChangeLog-5.php#5.2.11 Vendor Advisory ([email protected])
http://www.php.net/releases/5_2_11.php Patch, Vendor Advisory ([email protected])
http://www.php.net/releases/5_3_1.php Vendor Advisory ([email protected])
http://bugs.php.net/bug.php?id=44683 Exploit, Vendor Advisory (af854a3a-2127-422b-91ae-364da2661108)
http://news.php.net/php.announce/79 Vendor Advisory (af854a3a-2127-422b-91ae-364da2661108)
http://svn.php.net/viewvc?view=revision&revision=287779 Vendor Advisory (af854a3a-2127-422b-91ae-364da2661108)
http://www.openwall.com/lists/oss-security/2009/09/20/1 Mailing List, Patch (af854a3a-2127-422b-91ae-364da2661108)
http://www.openwall.com/lists/oss-security/2009/11/20/2 Mailing List (af854a3a-2127-422b-91ae-364da2661108)
http://www.openwall.com/lists/oss-security/2009/11/20/3 Mailing List (af854a3a-2127-422b-91ae-364da2661108)
http://www.osvdb.org/58188 Broken Link (af854a3a-2127-422b-91ae-364da2661108)
http://www.php.net/ChangeLog-5.php Vendor Advisory (af854a3a-2127-422b-91ae-364da2661108)
http://www.php.net/ChangeLog-5.php#5.2.11 Vendor Advisory (af854a3a-2127-422b-91ae-364da2661108)
http://www.php.net/releases/5_2_11.php Patch, Vendor Advisory (af854a3a-2127-422b-91ae-364da2661108)
http://www.php.net/releases/5_3_1.php Vendor Advisory (af854a3a-2127-422b-91ae-364da2661108)

How SecUtils Interprets This CVE

SecUtils normalizes and enriches National Vulnerability Database (NVD) records by standardizing vendor and product identifiers, aggregating vulnerability metadata from both NVD and MITRE sources, and providing structured context for security teams. For php's affected products, we extract Common Platform Enumeration (CPE) data, Common Weakness Enumeration (CWE) classifications, CVSS severity metrics, and reference data to enable rapid vulnerability prioritization and asset correlation. This record contains no exploit code, proof-of-concept instructions, or attack methodologies—only defensive intelligence necessary for patch management, risk assessment, and security operations.