Heap-based buffer overflow in OvWebHelp.exe in HP OpenView Network Node Manager (OV NNM) 7.01, 7.51, and 7.53 allows remote attackers to execute arbitrary code via a long Topic parameter.
CVE-2009-4178
“—” beside the score: it is equal to NVD's CVSS v2 base score.
This CVE was only ever scored under CVSS v2.0. NVD CVSS v2.0 base 10.0 — NVD rates that HIGH (NVD's v2 bands: LOW 0.0–3.9 / MEDIUM 4.0–6.9 / HIGH 7.0–10.0; no CRITICAL band). Vector AV:N/AC:L/Au:N/C:C/I:C/A:C. CVSS v2 is an older, coarser metric than v3.1/v4.0 (no Scope, no User Interaction, no Attack Requirements), so it is not directly comparable to a v3 or v4 score. NVD has never re-scored this record under v3. EPSS predicts 74% exploitation probability in the next 30 days; it does not lift the v2 base. EPSS sets EG Risk's exploitation input. Confidence: LOW.
- High exploitation likelihood — EPSS 74%
- Public exploit code is available (Metasploit, Exploit-DB, marked verified by Exploit-DB, other public proof-of-concept code)
A fix is referenced (a reference tagged "Patch", often a source commit), but no release containing it is confirmed — find the release that contains it; until it is applied, mitigate (WAF / firewall / segmentation).
- CVSS v2.0 (legacy)
- 10.0HIGHNVD never assigned a CVSS v3 rating to this CVE
- EG Score
- 10.0HIGHlow confidence
- EG Risk
- 75EG Risk 75/100
EG Risk is EchelonGraph's 0–100 priority score: it fuses intrinsic severity with real-world exploitation and automatability so you can rank equal-severity CVEs and fix the most dangerous first. Higher = act sooner. Distinct from the 0–10 EG Score (severity).
How it’s computed (value × EchelonGraph’s weight)Severity100% × 45%The EG Score, 10.0 of 10.Exploitation74% × 40%FIRST EPSS: the 30-day exploitation probability when EchelonGraph scored this CVE.Automatability0% × 15%CISA's BOD 26-04 default: no one has published Automatable for this CVE, and CISA treats it as “no” for a CVE not in KEV.SSVC (CISA's decision table, applied by EchelonGraph): Track at low, Track* at medium and Attend at high mission impact.Exploitation public PoC (exploit code on record) · Automatable no (CISA's BOD 26-04 default) · Technical impact total (CISA's BOD 26-04 default). EchelonGraph holds no SSVC assessment of this CVE from CISA: none of these inputs is from Vulnrichment. EchelonGraph applied CISA's decision table to them; CISA publishes SSVC inputs and the table, not a decision for each CVE.Action: A fix is referenced, but no release containing it is confirmed. Check the referenced fix and the vendor's advisory for a release that contains it and apply that within your standard update timelines at low or medium mission impact and sooner than that at high; until then, restrict network exposure of the affected system or apply the vendor's mitigation. - EPSS PROB
- 74%
- EPSS %ILE
- 99th
- KEV
- Not listed
SSVC (CISA's decision table, applied by EchelonGraph)Track at low, Track* at medium and Attend at high mission impact.
A fix is referenced, but no release containing it is confirmed. Check the referenced fix and the vendor's advisory for a release that contains it and apply that within your standard update timelines at low or medium mission impact and sooner than that at high; until then, restrict network exposure of the affected system or apply the vendor's mitigation.
Exploitation public PoC (exploit code on record) · Automatable no (CISA's BOD 26-04 default) · Technical impact total (CISA's BOD 26-04 default). EchelonGraph holds no SSVC assessment of this CVE from CISA: none of these inputs is from Vulnrichment. EchelonGraph applied CISA's decision table to them; CISA publishes SSVC inputs and the table, not a decision for each CVE. Mission impact is CISA's Mission & Well-being decision point, and only you can judge it. CISA's table makes it high when Mission Prevalence is Essential — the vulnerable component "directly provides capabilities that constitute at least one MEF for at least one entity" (MEF: mission essential function) — or when Public Well-Being Impact is Irreversible: "multiple fatalities are likely", the cyber-physical system "is likely lost or destroyed", "extreme or serious externalities" are imposed on other parties, or social systems such as elections or the financial grid "are destabilized and potentially collapse". CISA's decision table
BOD 26-04 (CISA's remediation timeline, Table 1)14 days if the affected system is publicly exposed; Fix on system upgrade if it is not.
In CISA KEV no (CISA's KEV catalog) · Automatable no (CISA's BOD 26-04 default) · Technical impact total (CISA's BOD 26-04 default). Where an input reads “CISA's BOD 26-04 default”, no one has published it for this CVE, and CISA's implementation guidance says: “If “Automatable” and “Technical Impact” information items about a CVE ID are not available and the CVE ID is not in the KEV Catalog, CISA will treat its values as “no” and “total,” respectively, until CISA or a third party provides metadata about the CVE ID. CISA will always provide the Vulnrichment data for a CVE ID listed in the KEV Catalog.” Whether your system is publicly exposed is yours to answer. BOD 26-04 binds US Federal Civilian Executive Branch agencies; for anyone else it is CISA's published timeline, a reference rather than an obligation. The directive · how EchelonGraph applies it
Published
December 10, 2009
Last Modified
April 23, 2026
References (7)
- hp-security-alert@hp · CVE Programhttp://dvlabs.tippingpoint.com/advisory/TPTI-09-11Patch
- hp-security-alert@hp · CVE Programhttp://h20000.www2.hp.com/bizsupport/TechSupport/Document.jsp?objectID=c01950877Patch · Vendor Advisory
- hp-security-alert@hp · CVE Programhttp://marc.info/?l=bugtraq&m=126046355120442&w=2
- hp-security-alert@hp · CVE Programhttp://www.securityfocus.com/archive/1/508354/100/0/threaded (archived copy: the site no longer serves it)
- hp-security-alert@hp · CVE Programhttp://www.securityfocus.com/bid/37261 (archived copy: the site no longer serves it)
- hp-security-alert@hp · CVE Programhttp://www.securityfocus.com/bid/37340 (archived copy: the site no longer serves it)
- hp-security-alert@hp · CVE Programhttps://exchange.xforce.ibmcloud.com/vulnerabilities/54659
Weakness Classification(1)
MITRE Common Weakness Enumeration — the root-cause categories this CVE belongs to.
Data Freshness Timeline
(refreshed 4× in last 7d / 10× in last 30d)
Each row is a time one of our pipelines fetched, updated or re-scored this CVE. For example, "NVD update" means NVD published or revised its analysis for this CVE; "MITRE cvelistV5" means we ingested or refreshed it from the CNA feed. An arrow marks a change the record states ("CVSS v3 → 9.1"); EPSS and GHSA rows show the values recorded at that time, not what changed (EPSS values are rounded; hover one for the exact figures). Most recent first.
A repeat, a row identical to one the same pipeline wrote less than 10 seconds earlier, is not a separate refresh and is not counted. 20 repeat rows among the latest 84 are merged into the row they repeat.
- 2026-10-12 01:51 UTCEG score recompute
- 2026-10-10 19:54 UTCEPSS rescoreEPSS 74% · 99th percentile
- 2026-10-07 23:37 UTCEPSS rescoreEPSS 74% · 99th percentile
- 2026-10-06 15:09 UTCEPSS rescoreEPSS 74% · 99th percentile
- 2026-09-29 08:01 UTCEG score recompute
- 2026-09-26 15:52 UTCEPSS rescoreEPSS 74% · 99th percentile
- 2026-09-24 13:57 UTCEPSS rescoreEPSS 74% · 99th percentile
- 2026-09-17 19:20 UTCEPSS rescoreEPSS 74% · 99th percentile
- 2026-09-15 03:04 UTCEPSS rescoreEPSS 74% · 99th percentile
- 2026-09-12 14:54 UTCEPSS rescoreEPSS 74% · 99th percentile
- 2026-09-10 09:24 UTCEPSS rescoreEPSS 74% · 99th percentile
- 2026-09-06 13:41 UTCEPSS rescoreEPSS 74% · 99th percentile
- 2026-09-05 15:22 UTCEPSS rescoreEPSS 74% · 99th percentile
- 2026-09-04 13:55 UTCEPSS rescoreEPSS 74% · 99th percentile
- 2026-08-28 21:34 UTCEPSS rescoreEPSS 74% · 99th percentile
- 2026-08-25 13:43 UTCEPSS rescoreEPSS 74% · 99th percentile
- 2026-08-19 16:58 UTCEPSS rescoreEPSS 74% · 99th percentile
- 2026-08-15 01:24 UTCEPSS rescoreEPSS 74% · 99th percentile
- 2026-08-08 16:31 UTCEPSS rescoreEPSS 74% · 99th percentile
- 2026-08-06 13:41 UTCEPSS rescoreEPSS 74% · 99th percentile
- 2026-07-30 16:22 UTCEPSS rescoreEPSS 74% · 99th percentile
- 2026-07-26 13:39 UTCEG score recomputeAssessed again: 10.0 HIGH
- 2026-07-25 14:12 UTCEPSS rescoreEPSS 74% · 99th percentile
- 2026-07-24 14:12 UTCEPSS rescoreEPSS 74% · 99th percentile
- 2026-07-23 14:14 UTCEPSS rescoreEPSS 74% · 99th percentile
Show 39 moreShow fewer
- 2026-07-23 01:00 UTCEG score recompute
- 2026-07-23 00:37 UTCEG score recompute▼ 7.20
- 2026-07-23 00:04 UTCEG score recomputeFirst assessed: 7.2 HIGH
- 2026-07-22 21:43 UTCEG score recompute▼ 9.00
- 2026-07-22 14:03 UTCEPSS rescoreEPSS 74% · 99th percentile
- 2026-07-20 17:03 UTCEPSS rescoreEPSS 74% · 99th percentile
- 2026-07-18 09:59 UTCEPSS rescoreEPSS 74% · 99th percentile
- 2026-07-16 16:58 UTCEPSS rescoreEPSS 74% · 99th percentile
- 2026-07-15 16:54 UTCEPSS rescoreEPSS 74% · 99th percentile
- 2026-07-15 01:55 UTCEPSS rescoreEPSS 74% · 99th percentile
- 2026-07-11 08:22 UTCEPSS rescoreEPSS 74% · 99th percentile
- 2026-07-06 02:19 UTCEPSS rescoreEPSS 74% · 99th percentile
- 2026-07-01 15:02 UTCEPSS rescoreEPSS 74% · 99th percentile
- 2026-06-30 23:19 UTCEPSS rescoreEPSS 74% · 99th percentile
- 2026-06-28 14:03 UTCEPSS rescoreEPSS 74% · 99th percentile
- 2026-06-28 04:52 UTCEPSS rescoreEPSS 74% · 99th percentile
- 2026-06-25 13:46 UTCEPSS rescoreEPSS 74% · 99th percentile
- 2026-06-24 14:02 UTCEPSS rescoreEPSS 74% · 99th percentile
- 2026-06-23 21:29 UTCEPSS rescoreEPSS 74% · 99th percentile
- 2026-06-21 14:53 UTCEPSS rescoreEPSS 74% · 99th percentile
- 2026-06-18 17:49 UTCEPSS rescoreEPSS 74% · 99th percentile
- 2026-06-17 17:49 UTCEPSS rescoreEPSS 74% · 99th percentile
- 2026-06-15 17:44 UTCEPSS rescoreEPSS 74% · 99th percentile
- 2026-06-13 22:57 UTCEPSS rescoreEPSS 86% · 99th percentile
- 2026-06-12 23:08 UTCEPSS rescoreEPSS 86% · 99th percentile
- 2026-06-10 13:17 UTCEPSS rescoreEPSS 86% · 99th percentile
- 2026-06-08 14:13 UTCEPSS rescoreEPSS 86% · 99th percentile
- 2026-06-07 15:22 UTCEPSS rescoreEPSS 86% · 99th percentile
- 2026-06-05 22:44 UTCEPSS rescoreEPSS 86% · 99th percentile
- 2026-06-02 20:10 UTCEPSS rescoreEPSS 86% · 99th percentile
- 2026-05-31 22:28 UTCEPSS rescoreEPSS 86% · 99th percentile
- 2026-05-30 14:21 UTCEG score recompute
- 2026-05-30 14:21 UTCGHSA enrichmentGHSA-3hw3-mqwc-2cjg · GitHub severity HIGH
- 2026-05-29 13:40 UTCEPSS rescoreEPSS 86% · 99th percentile
- 2026-05-28 13:42 UTCEPSS rescoreEPSS 86% · 99th percentile
- 2026-05-26 13:41 UTCEPSS rescoreEPSS 86% · 99th percentile
- 2026-05-22 21:15 UTCEPSS rescoreEPSS 86% · 99th percentile
- 2026-05-20 22:37 UTCEPSS rescoreEPSS 86% · 99th percentile
- 2026-05-18 21:29 UTCEPSS rescoreEPSS 86% · 99th percentile
Publicly available exploits
(3 references)Public exploit code is referenced for this CVE (1 Metasploit module, 2 Exploit-DB entries). No release with the fix is confirmed, so defenders should restrict or isolate affected systems accordingly until one is applied.
- Exploit-DBEDB-16792✓ verifiedPublished Nov 11, 2010
HP OpenView Network Node Manager (OV NNM) - 'OvWebHelp.exe' CGI Buffer Overflow (Metasploit)
Open source ↗ - Metasploitexploit/windows/http/hp_nnm_ovwebhelp✓ verifiedPublished Apr 1, 2010
HP OpenView Network Node Manager OvWebHelp.exe CGI Buffer Overflow
Open source ↗ - Exploit-DBEDB-11974Published Mar 30, 2010
HP OpenView Network Node Manager (OV NNM) - 'OvWebHelp.exe' CGI Topic Overflow
Open source ↗
Related CVEs(same CWE)
Same CWE
10 shownCWE-119
- CVE-2009-4177EG 10.0EPSS p96HIGH
- CVE-2009-4179EG 10.0EPSS p99HIGH
- CVE-2009-4176EG 10.0EPSS p96HIGH
- CVE-2009-4180EG 10.0EPSS p96HIGH
- CVE-2009-3849EG 10.0EPSS p99HIGH
- CVE-2009-4181EG 10.0EPSS p96HIGH
- CVE-2009-3848EG 10.0EPSS p96HIGH
- CVE-2009-3846EG 10.0EPSS p96HIGH
- CVE-2009-4292EG 9.3EPSS p92HIGH
- CVE-2009-3794EG 9.3EPSS p96HIGH
Frequently asked(4)
What is CVE-2009-4178?
When was CVE-2009-4178 made public?
Is CVE-2009-4178 actively exploited?
How do I remediate CVE-2009-4178?
Dependency Blast Radius
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