CVE-2009-2936
The Command Line Interface (aka Server CLI or administration interface) in the master process in the reverse proxy server in Varnish…
- 7.5HighCVSS base score
- 63.8%Exploitation in 30 daysEPSS · top 0.8% of all CVEs
- NoKnown exploitednot in CISA's KEV catalog
- 3Public exploitsMetasploit, Nuclei and Exploit-DB
Description
The Command Line Interface (aka Server CLI or administration interface) in the master process in the reverse proxy server in Varnish before 2.1.0 does not require authentication for commands received through a TCP port, which allows remote attackers to (1) execute arbitrary code via a vcl.inline directive that provides a VCL configuration file containing inline C code; (2) change the ownership of the master process via param.set, stop, and start directives; (3) read the initial line of an arbitrary file via a vcl.load directive; or (4) conduct cross-site request forgery (CSRF) attacks that leverage a victim's location on a trusted network and improper input validation of directives. NOTE: the vendor disputes this report, saying that it is "fundamentally misguided and pointless.
Public exploit
An exploit or proof of concept is public: anyone can try it against an unpatched system. The public collections list 2 Metasploit modules and an Exploit-DB entry for it.
Show the exploits3
Metasploit modules2 modules
- Varnish Cache CLI File Read (Metasploit module) (opens in a new tab)
auxiliary/scanner/varnish/varnish_cli_file_readRank normal
- Varnish Cache CLI Login Utility (Metasploit module) (opens in a new tab)
auxiliary/scanner/varnish/varnish_cli_loginRank normal
Exploit-DB1 entry
- Varnish Cache CLI Interface - Remote Code Execution (Metasploit) (Exploit-DB entry) (opens in a new tab)
EDB-ID 35581remote, linuxpublished 19 Dec 2014Not verified
Modules, templates and exploits as listed by the Metasploit Framework (BSD-3-Clause), ProjectDiscovery's Nuclei templates (MIT) and the Exploit Database (GPLv2), read once a day. Where the data comes from
Timeline
ID reserved
By mitre
- 8 months later
· 8 months later
Published
- 14 years later
· 14 years later
Record updated
Changes after publication (a new score, a public exploit, EPSS crossing 1, 10 or 50 %, leaving KEV) are kept since November 2026; earlier ones are not known.
Scores
| Scored by | CVSS | Score | Vector |
|---|---|---|---|
| NVDNVD · Modified | 2.0 | High7.5 | AV:N/AC:L/Au:N/C:P/I:P/A:P |
- EPSS (exploitation in 30 days)
- 63.8% · top 0.8% of all CVEs (11 Nov 2026)
The list uses the assigner's score when there is one, then CISA's, then NVD's: High 7.5.
Affected products
n/a
- affected n/a
References
5
- 20100329 Medium security hole in Varnish reverse proxy (opens in a new tab)mailing-listx_refsource_BUGTRAQx_transferred
- http://www.varnish-cache.org/wiki/CLI (opens in a new tab)x_refsource_MISCx_transferred
- http://www.varnish-cache.org/changeset/3865 (opens in a new tab)x_refsource_MISCx_transferred
- 20100329 Re: [Full-disclosure] Medium security hole in Varnish reverse proxy (opens in a new tab)mailing-listx_refsource_BUGTRAQx_transferred
- FEDORA-2010-6719 (opens in a new tab)vendor-advisoryx_refsource_FEDORAx_transferred
Sources
The same CVE in the primary databases and aggregators, to check against.
- CVE.org record (opens in a new tab)
- CVE List JSON (GitHub) (opens in a new tab)
- NVD (opens in a new tab)
- FIRST EPSS (opens in a new tab)
- EUVD EUVD-2009-2924 (opens in a new tab)
- OSV.dev (opens in a new tab)
- GitHub Advisories (opens in a new tab)
- CIRCL Vulnerability-Lookup (opens in a new tab)
Badge for a README or a ticket
[](https://cveledger.app/cve/CVE-2009-2936)Record last updated .