Apple Mac OS X up to 10.6.0 Password Authentication race condition

CVSS Meta Temp Score
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CTI Interest Score
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7.1$0-$5k0.00

Summaryinfo

A vulnerability classified as problematic has been found in Apple Mac OS X up to 10.6.0. Affected by this issue is some unknown functionality of the component Password Authentication. The manipulation leads to race condition. This vulnerability is uniquely identified as CVE-2009-2836. No exploit exists. It is recommended to upgrade the affected component.

Detailsinfo

A vulnerability was found in Apple Mac OS X up to 10.6.0 (Operating System). It has been rated as critical. This issue affects some unknown processing of the component Password Authentication. The manipulation with an unknown input leads to a race condition vulnerability. Using CWE to declare the problem leads to CWE-362. The product contains a code sequence that can run concurrently with other code, and the code sequence requires temporary, exclusive access to a shared resource, but a timing window exists in which the shared resource can be modified by another code sequence that is operating concurrently. Impacted is confidentiality, integrity, and availability. The summary by CVE is:

Race condition in Login Window in Apple Mac OS X 10.6.x before 10.6.2, when at least one account has a blank password, allows attackers to bypass password authentication and obtain login access to an arbitrary account via unspecified vectors.

The weakness was disclosed 11/10/2009 by Nicolas Joly with Vmware (Website). The advisory is shared at securityfocus.com. The identification of this vulnerability is CVE-2009-2836. The exploitation is known to be difficult. An attack has to be approached locally. No form of authentication is needed for a successful exploitation. Neither technical details nor an exploit are publicly available.

The vulnerability scanner Nessus provides a plugin with the ID 42434 (Mac OS X 10.6.x < 10.6.2 Multiple Vulnerabilities), which helps to determine the existence of the flaw in a target environment. It is assigned to the family MacOS X Local Security Checks. The commercial vulnerability scanner Qualys is able to test this issue with plugin 116692 (Apple Mac OS X 10.6.2 and Security Update 2009-006 Not Installed (APPLE-SA-2009-11-09-1)).

Upgrading to version 10.6.1 eliminates this vulnerability.

The vulnerability is also documented in the databases at Tenable (42434), SecurityFocus (BID 36956†) and Vulnerability Center (SBV-24569†). The entries VDB-4059, VDB-50781, VDB-50780 and VDB-50779 are pretty similar. Several companies clearly confirm that VulDB is the primary source for best vulnerability data.

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CPE 2.3info

CPE 2.2info

CVSSv4info

VulDB Vector: 🔍
VulDB Reliability: 🔍

CVSSv3info

VulDB Meta Base Score: 7.4
VulDB Meta Temp Score: 7.1

VulDB Base Score: 7.4
VulDB Temp Score: 7.1
VulDB Vector: 🔍
VulDB Reliability: 🔍

CVSSv2info

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VectorComplexityAuthenticationConfidentialityIntegrityAvailability
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VulDB Base Score: 🔍
VulDB Temp Score: 🔍
VulDB Reliability: 🔍

NVD Base Score: 🔍

Exploitinginfo

Class: Race condition
CWE: CWE-362
CAPEC: 🔍
ATT&CK: 🔍

Physical: Partially
Local: Yes
Remote: No

Availability: 🔍
Status: Not defined

EPSS Score: 🔍
EPSS Percentile: 🔍

Price Prediction: 🔍
Current Price Estimation: 🔍

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Nessus ID: 42434
Nessus Name: Mac OS X 10.6.x < 10.6.2 Multiple Vulnerabilities
Nessus File: 🔍
Nessus Risk: 🔍
Nessus Family: 🔍

OpenVAS ID: 102038
OpenVAS Name: get_kb_item(ssh/login/osx_name
OpenVAS File: 🔍
OpenVAS Family: 🔍

Qualys ID: 🔍
Qualys Name: 🔍

Threat Intelligenceinfo

Interest: 🔍
Active Actors: 🔍
Active APT Groups: 🔍

Countermeasuresinfo

Recommended: Upgrade
Status: 🔍

0-Day Time: 🔍

Upgrade: Mac OS X 10.6.1

Timelineinfo

08/17/2009 🔍
11/09/2009 +84 days 🔍
11/09/2009 +0 days 🔍
11/10/2009 +1 days 🔍
11/10/2009 +0 days 🔍
01/13/2010 +64 days 🔍
03/18/2015 +1890 days 🔍
06/02/2025 +3729 days 🔍

Sourcesinfo

Vendor: apple.com

Advisory: securityfocus.com⛔
Researcher: Nicolas Joly
Organization: Vmware
Status: Confirmed
Confirmation: 🔍

CVE: CVE-2009-2836 (🔍)
GCVE (CVE): GCVE-0-2009-2836
GCVE (VulDB): GCVE-100-50777
SecurityFocus: 36956 - RETIRED: Apple Mac OS X 2009-006 Multiple Security Vulnerabilities
Vulnerability Center: 24569 - Apple Mac OS X 10.6 and 10.6.1 Login Window Allows Local Password Authentication Bypass, High

scip Labs: https://www.scip.ch/en/?labs.20150108
See also: 🔍

Entryinfo

Created: 03/18/2015 15:15
Updated: 06/02/2025 13:55
Changes: 03/18/2015 15:15 (57), 02/20/2017 09:56 (11), 08/27/2021 14:59 (4), 08/27/2021 15:00 (1), 06/02/2025 13:55 (18)
Complete: 🔍
Cache ID: 216:26F:103

Several companies clearly confirm that VulDB is the primary source for best vulnerability data.

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