CVE-2009-4488

CRITICALNVD 9.89.8—
EchelonGraph scoreMEDIUM confidence

Score 9.8 from GitHub Security Advisory published 2022-05-02. NVD baseline CVSS 9.8; sources differ by 0.0.

Triggered by: GitHub Security Advisory CVSS
Sources: epss, ghsa, nvd
Weaponized
9.8
EchelonGraph verdictPlan a fixSerious severity, but no confirmed exploitation yet.
  • High severity, but no confirmed exploitation yet
CISA-KEV: Not listedEPSS: 13%CVSS: 9.8Exploit: NoneExposed: 0

No vendor fix yet — apply a workaround or compensating control (WAF / firewall / segmentation) and watch for a patch.

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.

CVSS v3
9.8
EG Score
9.8(medium)
EPSS
95.8%
KEV
Not listed

Published

January 13, 2010

Last Modified

April 23, 2026

Advisory Details (3)

Auto-updated May 11, 2026
🔬 Proof of concept available. No patch confirmed yet.
generic🟡 PoC Available
http://www.ush.it/team/ush/hack_httpd_escape/adv.txt
generic
http://www.securityfocus.com/bid/37713
generic
http://www.securityfocus.com/archive/1/508830/100/0/threaded

Data Freshness Timeline

(refreshed 6× in last 7d / 38× in last 30d)

Each row is a source pipeline that fetched or updated this CVE on that date, with what changed. 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. Most recent first.

  1. 2026-07-07 20:11 UTCOSV refresh
  2. 2026-07-06 02:19 UTCEPSS rescore
  3. 2026-07-06 02:19 UTCEPSS rescore
  4. 2026-07-05 02:26 UTCEPSS rescore
  5. 2026-07-02 14:01 UTCEPSS rescore
  6. 2026-07-01 15:02 UTCEPSS rescore
  7. 2026-06-30 23:19 UTCEPSS rescore
  8. 2026-06-28 14:03 UTCEPSS rescore
  9. 2026-06-28 04:52 UTCEPSS rescore
  10. 2026-06-28 04:52 UTCEPSS rescore
  11. 2026-06-27 03:05 UTCEPSS rescore
  12. 2026-06-25 13:46 UTCEPSS rescore
  13. 2026-06-24 14:02 UTCEPSS rescore
  14. 2026-06-24 14:02 UTCEPSS rescore
  15. 2026-06-23 21:30 UTCEPSS rescore
  16. 2026-06-23 21:29 UTCEPSS rescore
  17. 2026-06-22 14:22 UTCEPSS rescore
  18. 2026-06-22 14:22 UTCEPSS rescore
  19. 2026-06-21 14:53 UTCEPSS rescore
  20. 2026-06-21 01:56 UTCEPSS rescore
  21. 2026-06-21 01:56 UTCEPSS rescore
  22. 2026-06-19 07:25 UTCOSV refresh
  23. 2026-06-18 17:49 UTCEPSS rescore
  24. 2026-06-18 17:49 UTCEPSS rescore
  25. 2026-06-17 17:49 UTCEPSS rescore
Show 67 more
  1. 2026-06-17 17:49 UTCEPSS rescore
  2. 2026-06-16 17:49 UTCEPSS rescore
  3. 2026-06-15 17:44 UTCEPSS rescore
  4. 2026-06-14 23:14 UTCEPSS rescore
  5. 2026-06-13 22:57 UTCEPSS rescore
  6. 2026-06-13 22:57 UTCEPSS rescore
  7. 2026-06-13 22:57 UTCEPSS rescore
  8. 2026-06-12 23:08 UTCEPSS rescore
  9. 2026-06-12 23:08 UTCEPSS rescore
  10. 2026-06-11 13:56 UTCEPSS rescore
  11. 2026-06-10 22:14 UTCEPSS rescore
  12. 2026-06-10 13:17 UTCEPSS rescore
  13. 2026-06-08 14:13 UTCEPSS rescore
  14. 2026-06-07 15:22 UTCEPSS rescore
  15. 2026-06-07 15:22 UTCEPSS rescore
  16. 2026-06-05 22:44 UTCEPSS rescore
  17. 2026-06-05 22:44 UTCEPSS rescore
  18. 2026-06-05 06:07 UTCEPSS rescore
  19. 2026-06-05 06:07 UTCEPSS rescore
  20. 2026-06-04 13:09 UTCEPSS rescore
  21. 2026-06-04 13:09 UTCEPSS rescore
  22. 2026-06-02 20:10 UTCEPSS rescore
  23. 2026-06-02 20:10 UTCEPSS rescore
  24. 2026-06-01 13:49 UTCEPSS rescore
  25. 2026-06-01 13:49 UTCEPSS rescore
  26. 2026-05-31 22:28 UTCEPSS rescore
  27. 2026-05-31 22:28 UTCEPSS rescore
  28. 2026-05-31 00:14 UTCEPSS rescore
  29. 2026-05-31 00:13 UTCEPSS rescore
  30. 2026-05-30 17:53 UTCOSV refresh
  31. 2026-05-29 13:40 UTCEPSS rescore
  32. 2026-05-28 13:42 UTCEPSS rescore
  33. 2026-05-28 13:42 UTCEPSS rescore
  34. 2026-05-27 13:38 UTCEPSS rescore
  35. 2026-05-27 13:38 UTCEPSS rescore
  36. 2026-05-26 13:41 UTCEPSS rescore
  37. 2026-05-26 13:41 UTCEPSS rescore
  38. 2026-05-26 07:16 UTCEPSS rescore
  39. 2026-05-26 07:16 UTCEPSS rescore
  40. 2026-05-24 16:43 UTCEPSS rescore
  41. 2026-05-22 21:15 UTCEPSS rescore
  42. 2026-05-22 21:15 UTCEPSS rescore
  43. 2026-05-22 21:15 UTCEPSS rescore
  44. 2026-05-21 22:39 UTCEPSS rescore
  45. 2026-05-20 22:37 UTCEPSS rescore
  46. 2026-05-20 22:37 UTCEPSS rescore
  47. 2026-05-20 22:37 UTCEPSS rescore
  48. 2026-05-20 11:21 UTCEPSS rescore
  49. 2026-05-20 11:21 UTCEPSS rescore
  50. 2026-05-20 07:22 UTCEG score recompute
  51. 2026-05-20 07:22 UTCGHSA enrichment
  52. 2026-05-20 03:11 UTCEG score recompute
  53. 2026-05-20 03:11 UTCGHSA enrichment
  54. 2026-05-19 23:00 UTCEG score recompute
  55. 2026-05-19 23:00 UTCGHSA enrichment
  56. 2026-05-19 18:49 UTCEG score recompute
  57. 2026-05-19 18:49 UTCGHSA enrichment
  58. 2026-05-19 14:38 UTCEG score recompute
  59. 2026-05-19 14:38 UTCGHSA enrichment
  60. 2026-05-19 10:05 UTCEG score recompute
  61. 2026-05-19 10:05 UTCGHSA enrichment
  62. 2026-05-19 05:54 UTCEG score recompute
  63. 2026-05-19 05:54 UTCGHSA enrichment
  64. 2026-05-19 01:44 UTCEG score recompute
  65. 2026-05-19 01:43 UTCGHSA enrichment
  66. 2026-05-18 21:29 UTCEPSS rescore
  67. 2026-05-18 21:29 UTCEPSS rescore

Publicly available exploits

(1 reference)

Working exploit code is in the public domain (1 Exploit-DB entry). Defenders should treat patch urgency accordingly — public PoCs typically lead to mass-exploitation within 24-72 hours.

  • Exploit-DBEDB-33498✓ verified
    First seen Jan 11, 2010

    Varnish 2.0.6 - 'Terminal Escape Sequence in Logs' Command Injection

    Open source ↗

Frequently asked(5)

What is CVE-2009-4488?
CVE-2009-4488 is a critical vulnerability published on January 13, 2010. 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…
When was CVE-2009-4488 disclosed?
CVE-2009-4488 was first published in the National Vulnerability Database on January 13, 2010, with the most recent update on April 23, 2026. EchelonGraph re-ingests CVE updates from NVD on a 2-hour cycle, so this page reflects the latest published state.
Is CVE-2009-4488 actively exploited?
CVE-2009-4488 is not currently on CISA's Known Exploited Vulnerabilities catalog. FIRST EPSS estimates a 95.8% percentile likelihood of exploitation in the next 30 days — higher percentiles indicate greater predicted risk.
What is the CVSS score of CVE-2009-4488?
CVE-2009-4488 has a CVSS v3 base score of 9.8 (NVD).
How do I remediate CVE-2009-4488?
Patch to the fixed version published by the affected vendor. Where vendor advisories exist for CVE-2009-4488, EchelonGraph cross-links them in the Vendor Advisories panel below — those typically contain the canonical remediation steps, fixed version numbers, and any vendor-specific mitigations.

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