Vulnerability Monitor

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CVE-2009-4135

The distcheck rule in dist-check.mk in GNU coreutils 5.2.1 through 8.1 allows local users to gain privileges via a symlink attack on a file in a directory tree under /tmp.

Security Impact Summary

CVE-2009-4135 is a security vulnerability that . Impacting 3 products from canonical, from gnu, from fedoraproject 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

2009-12-11T16:30:00.327

Last Modified

2025-04-09T00:30:58.490

Status

Deferred

Source

[email protected]

Severity

CVSSv2: 4.4 (MEDIUM)

CVSSv2 Vector

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

Access Vector: LOCAL
Access Complexity: MEDIUM
Authentication: NONE
Confidentiality Impact: PARTIAL
Integrity Impact: PARTIAL
Availability Impact: PARTIAL

Exploitability Score

3.4

Impact Score

6.4

Weaknesses

Type: Primary
CWE-59

Affected Vendors & Products

Type	Vendor	Product	Version/Range	Vulnerable?
Operating System	canonical	ubuntu_linux	10.04	Yes
Operating System	canonical	ubuntu_linux	12.04	Yes
Operating System	canonical	ubuntu_linux	14.04	Yes
Application	gnu	coreutils	5.2.1	Yes
Application	gnu	coreutils	5.91	Yes
Application	gnu	coreutils	5.92	Yes
Application	gnu	coreutils	5.93	Yes
Application	gnu	coreutils	5.94	Yes
Application	gnu	coreutils	5.95	Yes
Application	gnu	coreutils	5.96	Yes
Application	gnu	coreutils	5.97	Yes
Application	gnu	coreutils	6.2	Yes
Application	gnu	coreutils	6.3	Yes
Application	gnu	coreutils	6.4	Yes
Application	gnu	coreutils	6.5	Yes
Application	gnu	coreutils	6.6	Yes
Application	gnu	coreutils	6.7	Yes
Application	gnu	coreutils	6.8	Yes
Application	gnu	coreutils	6.9	Yes
Application	gnu	coreutils	6.10	Yes
Application	gnu	coreutils	6.11	Yes
Application	gnu	coreutils	6.12	Yes
Application	gnu	coreutils	7.1	Yes
Application	gnu	coreutils	7.2	Yes
Application	gnu	coreutils	7.3	Yes
Application	gnu	coreutils	7.4	Yes
Application	gnu	coreutils	7.5	Yes
Application	gnu	coreutils	7.6	Yes
Application	gnu	coreutils	8.1	Yes
Operating System	fedoraproject	fedora	11	Yes
Operating System	fedoraproject	fedora	12	Yes

References

http://git.savannah.gnu.org/cgit/coreutils.git/commit/?id=ae034822c535fa5 Issue Tracking, Patch ([email protected])
http://marc.info/?l=oss-security&m=126030454503441&w=2 Mailing List, Patch, Third Party Advisory ([email protected])
http://secunia.com/advisories/37645 ([email protected])
http://secunia.com/advisories/37860 ([email protected])
http://secunia.com/advisories/62226 ([email protected])
http://www.mail-archive.com/bug-coreutils%40gnu.org/msg18779.html ([email protected])
http://www.mail-archive.com/bug-coreutils%40gnu.org/msg18787.html ([email protected])
http://www.openwall.com/lists/oss-security/2009/12/08/4 Mailing List, Third Party Advisory ([email protected])
http://www.osvdb.org/60853 ([email protected])
http://www.securityfocus.com/bid/37256 Third Party Advisory, VDB Entry ([email protected])
http://www.ubuntu.com/usn/USN-2473-1 Third Party Advisory ([email protected])
http://www.vupen.com/english/advisories/2009/3453 Permissions Required ([email protected])
https://bugzilla.redhat.com/show_bug.cgi?id=545439 Issue Tracking, Patch ([email protected])
https://exchange.xforce.ibmcloud.com/vulnerabilities/54673 ([email protected])
https://www.redhat.com/archives/fedora-package-announce/2009-December/msg00954.html Third Party Advisory ([email protected])
https://www.redhat.com/archives/fedora-package-announce/2009-December/msg00972.html Third Party Advisory ([email protected])
http://git.savannah.gnu.org/cgit/coreutils.git/commit/?id=ae034822c535fa5 Issue Tracking, Patch (af854a3a-2127-422b-91ae-364da2661108)
http://marc.info/?l=oss-security&m=126030454503441&w=2 Mailing List, Patch, Third Party Advisory (af854a3a-2127-422b-91ae-364da2661108)
http://secunia.com/advisories/37645 (af854a3a-2127-422b-91ae-364da2661108)
http://secunia.com/advisories/37860 (af854a3a-2127-422b-91ae-364da2661108)
http://secunia.com/advisories/62226 (af854a3a-2127-422b-91ae-364da2661108)
http://www.mail-archive.com/bug-coreutils%40gnu.org/msg18779.html (af854a3a-2127-422b-91ae-364da2661108)
http://www.mail-archive.com/bug-coreutils%40gnu.org/msg18787.html (af854a3a-2127-422b-91ae-364da2661108)
http://www.openwall.com/lists/oss-security/2009/12/08/4 Mailing List, Third Party Advisory (af854a3a-2127-422b-91ae-364da2661108)
http://www.osvdb.org/60853 (af854a3a-2127-422b-91ae-364da2661108)
http://www.securityfocus.com/bid/37256 Third Party Advisory, VDB Entry (af854a3a-2127-422b-91ae-364da2661108)
http://www.ubuntu.com/usn/USN-2473-1 Third Party Advisory (af854a3a-2127-422b-91ae-364da2661108)
http://www.vupen.com/english/advisories/2009/3453 Permissions Required (af854a3a-2127-422b-91ae-364da2661108)
https://bugzilla.redhat.com/show_bug.cgi?id=545439 Issue Tracking, Patch (af854a3a-2127-422b-91ae-364da2661108)
https://exchange.xforce.ibmcloud.com/vulnerabilities/54673 (af854a3a-2127-422b-91ae-364da2661108)
https://www.redhat.com/archives/fedora-package-announce/2009-December/msg00954.html Third Party Advisory (af854a3a-2127-422b-91ae-364da2661108)
https://www.redhat.com/archives/fedora-package-announce/2009-December/msg00972.html Third Party 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 canonical'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.