PHP up to 5.1 LD_LIBRARY_PATH proc_open access control

CVSS Meta Temp Score CVSS is a standardized scoring system to determine possibilities of attacks. The Temp Score considers temporal factors like disclosure, exploit and countermeasures. The unique Meta Score calculates the average score of different sources to provide a normalized scoring system.	Current Exploit Price (≈) Our analysts are monitoring exploit markets and are in contact with vulnerability brokers. The range indicates the observed or calculated exploit price to be seen on exploit markets. A good indicator to understand the monetary effort required for and the popularity of an attack.	CTI Interest Score Our Cyber Threat Intelligence team is monitoring different web sites, mailing lists, exploit markets and social media networks. The CTI Interest Score identifies the interest of attackers and the security community for this specific vulnerability in real-time. A high score indicates an elevated risk to be targeted for this vulnerability.
5.7	$0-$5k	0.00

Summaryinfo

A vulnerability, which was classified as problematic, was found in PHP. Affected by this issue is the function proc_open in the library LD_LIBRARY_PATH. Executing a manipulation can lead to access control. This vulnerability is registered as CVE-2009-4018. It is possible to launch the attack remotely. Furthermore, an exploit is available. You should upgrade the affected component.

Detailsinfo

A vulnerability was found in PHP (Programming Language Software). It has been declared as problematic. This vulnerability affects the function proc_open in the library LD_LIBRARY_PATH. The manipulation with an unknown input leads to a access control vulnerability. The CWE definition for the vulnerability is CWE-264. As an impact it is known to affect confidentiality, integrity, and availability. CVE summarizes:

The proc_open function in ext/standard/proc_open.c in PHP before 5.2.11 and 5.3.x before 5.3.1 does not enforce the (1) safe_mode_allowed_env_vars and (2) safe_mode_protected_env_vars directives, which allows context-dependent attackers to execute programs with an arbitrary environment via the env parameter, as demonstrated by a crafted value of the LD_LIBRARY_PATH environment variable.

The weakness was published 11/29/2009 by Hamid Ebadi (oss-sec). The advisory is shared for download at openwall.com. This vulnerability was named CVE-2009-4018. The exploitation appears to be easy. The attack can be initiated remotely. No form of authentication is required for a successful exploitation. Successful exploitation requires user interaction by the victim. Technical details and also a public exploit are known. The MITRE ATT&CK project declares the attack technique as T1068.

A public exploit has been developed by Hamid Ebadi and been published 4 months after the advisory. It is possible to download the exploit at securityfocus.com. It is declared as proof-of-concept. As 0-day the estimated underground price was around $5k-$25k. The vulnerability scanner Nessus provides a plugin with the ID 49272 (HP System Management Homepage < 6.2 Multiple Vulnerabilities), which helps to determine the existence of the flaw in a target environment. It is assigned to the family Web Servers. The commercial vulnerability scanner Qualys is able to test this issue with plugin 118111 (HP-UX Running Apache with PHP Remote Denial of Service Vulnerability (HPSBUX02543)).

Upgrading to version 5.1.0 eliminates this vulnerability.

The vulnerability is also documented in the databases at Exploit-DB (11636), Tenable (49272), SecurityFocus (BID 37138†) and Vulnerability Center (SBV-24274†). Similar entries are available at VDB-51227, VDB-51226, VDB-50887 and VDB-50875. VulDB is the best source for vulnerability data and more expert information about this specific topic.

Productinfo

Type

• Programming Language Software

Name

• PHP

Version

• 0.0.1
• 0.1
• 0.1.1
• 0.1.9.1
• 0.1.9.1b
• 0.1.9.2
• 0.1a
• 0.2
• 0.2.1
• 0.2.2
• 0.3
• 0.3.1
• 0.3.2
• 0.3.2.3
• 0.3.2.6
• 0.3.7c
• 0.4
• 0.4.0
• 0.4.2
• 0.4.5
• 0.4.6
• 0.4.7
• 0.4.7.1
• 0.5
• 0.5.0.1
• 0.5.1
• 0.5.2
• 0.6
• 0.6.1
• 0.6.6
• 0.7
• 0.7.0
• 0.7.1
• 0.7.2
• 0.7.7
• 0.7a
• 0.8
• 0.8.1
• 0.8.2
• 0.9
• 0.9 Beta
• 0.9.0
• 0.9.1
• 0.10
• 0.10.1
• 0.10.3
• 0.12-3+deb8u1
• 0.21
• 0.46
• 0.50
• 0.53
• 0.57
• 0.71
• 0.80
• 0.92
• 0.95
• 0.96
• 0.98
• 0.99
• 1
• 1.0
• 1.0 Beta
• 1.0.0
• 1.0.1
• 1.0.2
• 1.0.4
• 1.0.12
• 1.0b
• 1.0b1
• 1.0b2
• 1.00
• 1.01
• 1.04
• 1.06
• 1.1
• 1.1.0
• 1.1.01
• 1.1.02
• 1.1.1
• 1.1.2
• 1.1a
• 1.2
• 1.2.0
• 1.2.06
• 1.2.1
• 1.2.2
• 1.2.5
• 1.2.5a
• 1.2.7
• 1.2.7pl1
• 1.2.7_pl1
• 1.3
• 1.3.0
• 1.3.1
• 1.3.6
• 1.3F
• 1.4
• 1.4.0
• 1.5
• 1.5.1
• 1.5.2
• 1.5.5
• 1.6
• 1.6.1
• 1.6.7
• 1.6.8
• 1.7
• 1.7.0
• 1.7.8
• 1.8
• 1.8c
• 1.9
• 1.9.3
• 1.9.6
• 1.10.1
• 1.10.2
• 1.14.0
• 1.16.0
• 1.20
• 1.21
• 1.25
• 1.27pl1
• 1.30
• 1.52
• 1.61
• 1.79
• 2.0
• 2.0.0
• 2.0.0-RC4
• 2.0.1
• 2.0.2
• 2.0.3
• 2.0b10
• 2.0beta1
• 2.1
• 2.1.0
• 2.1.1
• 2.1.4
• 2.1.5
• 2.2
• 2.2.1
• 2.2.2
• 2.2.5
• 2.2.7
• 2.2.8
• 2.3
• 2.3.2
• 2.4
• 2.5
• 2.5.1.1
• 2.6
• 2.6.1
• 2.7
• 2.7.1
• 2.7.3
• 2.8.0
• 2.8.2
• 2.8.17
• 2.13
• 2.21
• 2.36
• 2.46
• 2.84
• 3
• 3.0
• 3.0-1
• 3.0-2
• 3.0.0
• 3.0.1
• 3.0.1.6
• 3.0.1.7
• 3.0.1.8
• 3.0.2
• 3.0.3
• 3.0.4
• 3.0.5
• 3.0.6
• 3.0.7
• 3.0.8
• 3.0.9
• 3.0.10
• 3.0.11
• 3.0.12
• 3.0.13
• 3.0.14
• 3.0.15
• 3.0.16
• 3.0.17
• 3.0.18
• 3.0.21
• 3.1
• 3.1.1
• 3.1r
• 3.2.0
• 3.2.1
• 3.2.2
• 3.3
• 3.3.0
• 3.3.2
• 3.4
• 3.7
• 3.9.1
• 3.9.2
• 3.43
• 3.288.1
• 4
• 4.0
• 4.0.0
• 4.0.1
• 4.0.2
• 4.0.3
• 4.0.4
• 4.0.4pl1
• 4.0.5
• 4.0.6
• 4.0.7
• 4.00
• 4.01
• 4.1
• 4.1.0
• 4.1.1
• 4.1.2
• 4.1.3
• 4.2
• 4.2.0
• 4.2.1
• 4.2.2
• 4.2.3
• 4.2.4
• 4.3
• 4.3.0
• 4.3.1
• 4.3.2
• 4.3.3
• 4.3.4
• 4.3.5
• 4.3.6
• 4.3.7
• 4.3.8
• 4.3.9
• 4.3.10
• 4.3.11
• 4.4
• 4.4.0
• 4.4.1
• 4.4.1a
• 4.4.2
• 4.4.3
• 4.4.4
• 4.4.5
• 4.4.6
• 4.4.7
• 4.4.8
• 4.4.9
• 4.5
• 4.8
• 4.70
• 4.86
• 5
• 5.0
• 5.0.0
• 5.0.1
• 5.0.2
• 5.0.3
• 5.0.4
• 5.0.5
• 5.01
• 5.01 Service Pack
• 5.1

License

• open-source

Website

• Product: https://www.php.org/

CPE 2.3info

• 🔍
• 🔍
• 🔍

CPE 2.2info

• 🔍
• 🔍
• 🔍

CVSSv4info

VulDB Vector: 🔍
VulDB Reliability: 🔍

CVSSv3info

VulDB Meta Base Score: 6.3
VulDB Meta Temp Score: 5.7

VulDB Base Score: 6.3
VulDB Temp Score: 5.7
VulDB Vector: 🔍
VulDB Reliability: 🔍

CVSSv2info

AV	AC	Au	C	I	A
💳	💳	💳	💳	💳	💳
💳	💳	💳	💳	💳	💳
💳	💳	💳	💳	💳	💳

Vector	Complexity	Authentication	Confidentiality	Integrity	Availability
Unlock	Unlock	Unlock	Unlock	Unlock	Unlock
Unlock	Unlock	Unlock	Unlock	Unlock	Unlock
Unlock	Unlock	Unlock	Unlock	Unlock	Unlock

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

NVD Base Score: 🔍

Exploitinginfo

Class: Access control
CWE: CWE-264
CAPEC: 🔍
ATT&CK: 🔍

Physical: No
Local: No
Remote: Yes

Availability: 🔍
Access: Public
Status: Proof-of-Concept
Author: Hamid Ebadi
Download: 🔍

EPSS Score: 🔍
EPSS Percentile: 🔍

Price Prediction: 🔍
Current Price Estimation: 🔍

0-Day	Unlock	Unlock	Unlock	Unlock
Today	Unlock	Unlock	Unlock	Unlock

Nessus ID: 49272
Nessus Name: HP System Management Homepage < 6.2 Multiple Vulnerabilities
Nessus File: 🔍
Nessus Risk: 🔍
Nessus Family: 🔍

OpenVAS ID: 835236
OpenVAS Name: HP-UX Update for Apache with PHP HPSBUX02543
OpenVAS File: 🔍
OpenVAS Family: 🔍

Qualys ID: 🔍
Qualys Name: 🔍

Exploit-DB: 🔍

Threat Intelligenceinfo

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

Countermeasuresinfo

Recommended: Upgrade
Status: 🔍

0-Day Time: 🔍
Exploit Delay Time: 🔍

Upgrade: PHP 5.1.0

Timelineinfo

11/20/2009 🔍
11/20/2009 +0 days 🔍
11/20/2009 +0 days 🔍
11/29/2009 +9 days 🔍
11/29/2009 +0 days 🔍
12/07/2009 +8 days 🔍
03/05/2010 +88 days 🔍
03/05/2010 +0 days 🔍
03/18/2015 +1839 days 🔍
06/27/2025 +3754 days 🔍

Sourcesinfo

Product: php.org

Advisory: openwall.com
Researcher: Hamid Ebadi
Status: Confirmed
Confirmation: 🔍

CVE: CVE-2009-4018 (🔍)
GCVE (CVE): GCVE-0-2009-4018
GCVE (VulDB): GCVE-100-50920

OVAL: 🔍

SecurityFocus: 37138 - PHP 'proc_open()' 'safe_mode_protected_env_var' Restriction-Bypass Vulnerability
Vulnerability Center: 24274 - PHP 5.2.11 and 5.3 Vulnerability Allows Remote Code Execution via LD_LIBRARY_PATH Crafted Value, High

scip Labs: https://www.scip.ch/en/?labs.20161013
See also: 🔍

Entryinfo

Created: 03/18/2015 15:15
Updated: 06/27/2025 12:45
Changes: 03/18/2015 15:15 (62), 02/17/2017 12:29 (16), 08/28/2021 07:50 (4), 08/28/2021 07:56 (1), 06/27/2025 12:45 (17)
Complete: 🔍
Cache ID: 216::103

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