CVE-2009-4488Varnish 2.0.6 writes data to a log file without sanitizing non-printable characters, which might allow remote attackers to modify a…
- 9.8CriticalCVSS base score
- 13.0%Exploitation in 30 daysEPSS · top 3.6% of all CVEs
- NoKnown exploitednot in CISA's KEV catalog
- 1Public exploitsMetasploit, Nuclei and Exploit-DB
Description
Varnish 2.0.6 writes data to a log file without sanitizing non-printable characters, which might allow remote attackers to modify a window's title, or possibly execute arbitrary commands or overwrite files, via an HTTP request containing an escape sequence for a terminal emulator. NOTE: the vendor disputes the significance of this report, stating that "This is not a security problem in Varnish or any other piece of software which writes a logfile. The real problem is the mistaken belief that you can cat(1) a random logfile to your terminal safely.
Public exploit
An exploit or proof of concept is public: anyone can try it against an unpatched system. The public collections list an Exploit-DB entry for it.
Show the exploits1
Exploit-DB1 entry
- Varnish 2.0.6 - 'Terminal Escape Sequence in Logs' Command Injection (Exploit-DB entry) (opens in a new tab)
EDB-ID 33498remote, multiplepublished 11 Jan 2010Verified
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
- 14 days later
· 14 days later
Published
- 15 years later
· 15 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 |
|---|---|---|---|
| CISA-ADPADP (enrichment) | 3.1 | Critical9.8 | CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:L/PR:N/UI:N/S:U/C:H/I:H/A:H |
| NVDNVD · Modified | 3.1 | Critical9.8 | CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:L/PR:N/UI:N/S:U/C:H/I:H/A:H |
- EPSS (exploitation in 30 days)
- 13.0% · top 3.6% of all CVEs (13 Nov 2026)
- CISA SSVC
- Exploitation: none · Automatable: yes · Technical impact: total
The list uses the assigner's score when there is one, then CISA's, then NVD's: Critical 9.8.
Affected products
n/a
- affected n/a
References
References3
- http://www.ush.it/team/ush/hack_httpd_escape/adv.txt (opens in a new tab)x_refsource_MISCx_transferred
- 37713 (opens in a new tab)vdb-entryx_refsource_BIDx_transferred
- 20100110 Nginx, Varnish, Cherokee, thttpd, mini-httpd, WEBrick, Orion, AOLserver, Yaws and Boa log escape sequence injection (opens in a new tab)mailing-listx_refsource_BUGTRAQx_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-2009-4455 (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-2009-4488)Record last updated .