CVE-2009-2281

Multiple heap-based buffer underflows in the readPostBody function in cgiutil.c in mapserv in MapServer 4.x through 4.10.4 and 5.x before 5.4.2 allow remote attackers to execute arbitrary code via (1) a crafted Content-Length HTTP header or (2) a large HTTP request, related to an integer overflow that triggers a heap-based buffer overflow. NOTE: this issue reportedly exists because of an incomplete fix for CVE-2009-0840.

Published: 2009-10-23 Last update: 2026-06-16 Assigner: [email protected] Source: [email protected]
NVD Status：Modified，CVE State: published
View at NVD, CVE.org, EUVD

CVE-2009-2281 is rated High Risk (67.3/100): CVSS Critical severity, with high exploitation likelihood (EPSS 5.95%, 92th percentile). EPSS ranks this CVE among the most likely to be exploited in the near term. High exploitation likelihood—assess exposure and prioritize remediation.

Risk is dynamic; we continuously reassess and refresh what is shown on this page as upstream context changes.

Exploit prediction scoring system (EPSS) score for CVE-2009-2281

EPSS lead: Daily EPSS estimates relative likelihood of exploitation; percentile ranks this CVE among scored vulnerabilities (higher = more severe relative rank).

# Date Old EPSS score New EPSS score Delta (New - Old)
1 2026-06-15 11.50% 5.95% -5.56%
2 2025-05-28 11.27% 11.50% +0.23%
3 2025-03-30 — 11.27% —

Full EPSS history (16 records total)

Common vulnerability scoring system (CVSS) metrics for CVE-2009-2281

CVSS metrics for this CVE.

Base score Version Severity Vector Exploitability Impact Score source
10.0 2.0 HIGH
AV:N/AC:L/Au:N/C:C/I:C/A:C Click to expand
Access vector (AV:N)
Can be exploited remotely over network reachability.
Access complexity (AC:L)
Exploitation conditions are straightforward and predictable.
Authentication (AU:N)
No authentication is required.
Confidentiality impact (C:C)
Complete confidentiality impact.
Integrity impact (I:C)
Complete integrity impact.
Availability impact (A:C)
Complete availability impact.
 10.0 10.0 [email protected]

Weakness enumeration for CVE-2009-2281

OS Trackers for CVE-2009-2281

vendor priority summary link
debian medium CVE-2009-2281 medium priority: Debian including 1 source packages (mapserver), 5 status rows across 5 suites (bookworm, bullseye, forky, sid, trixie): resolved 5. https://security-tracker.debian.org/tracker/CVE-2009-2281
redhat — — https://access.redhat.com/security/cve/CVE-2009-2281
ubuntu medium CVE-2009-2281 medium priority: Ubuntu including 1 source packages (mapserver), 6 status rows across 6 suites (dapper, hardy, intrepid, jaunty, karmic, upstream): released 4, ignored 1, not-affected 1. https://ubuntu.com/security/CVE-2009-2281

Affected software / configurations for CVE-2009-2281

Vendor Product Version Raw CPE
osgeo mapserver 4.2.0 cpe:2.3:a:osgeo:mapserver:4.2.0:beta1:*:*:*:*:*:*
osgeo mapserver 4.4.0 cpe:2.3:a:osgeo:mapserver:4.4.0:*:*:*:*:*:*:*
osgeo mapserver 4.4.0 cpe:2.3:a:osgeo:mapserver:4.4.0:beta1:*:*:*:*:*:*
osgeo mapserver 4.4.0 cpe:2.3:a:osgeo:mapserver:4.4.0:beta2:*:*:*:*:*:*
osgeo mapserver 4.4.0 cpe:2.3:a:osgeo:mapserver:4.4.0:beta3:*:*:*:*:*:*
osgeo mapserver 4.6.0 cpe:2.3:a:osgeo:mapserver:4.6.0:*:*:*:*:*:*:*
osgeo mapserver 4.6.0 cpe:2.3:a:osgeo:mapserver:4.6.0:beta1:*:*:*:*:*:*
osgeo mapserver 4.6.0 cpe:2.3:a:osgeo:mapserver:4.6.0:beta2:*:*:*:*:*:*
osgeo mapserver 4.6.0 cpe:2.3:a:osgeo:mapserver:4.6.0:beta3:*:*:*:*:*:*
osgeo mapserver 4.6.0 cpe:2.3:a:osgeo:mapserver:4.6.0:rc1:*:*:*:*:*:*
osgeo mapserver 4.8.0 cpe:2.3:a:osgeo:mapserver:4.8.0:beta1:*:*:*:*:*:*
osgeo mapserver 4.8.0 cpe:2.3:a:osgeo:mapserver:4.8.0:beta2:*:*:*:*:*:*
osgeo mapserver 4.8.0 cpe:2.3:a:osgeo:mapserver:4.8.0:beta3:*:*:*:*:*:*
osgeo mapserver 4.8.0 cpe:2.3:a:osgeo:mapserver:4.8.0:rc1:*:*:*:*:*:*
osgeo mapserver 4.8.0 cpe:2.3:a:osgeo:mapserver:4.8.0:rc2:*:*:*:*:*:*
osgeo mapserver 4.10.0 cpe:2.3:a:osgeo:mapserver:4.10.0:*:*:*:*:*:*:*
osgeo mapserver 4.10.0 cpe:2.3:a:osgeo:mapserver:4.10.0:beta1:*:*:*:*:*:*
osgeo mapserver 4.10.0 cpe:2.3:a:osgeo:mapserver:4.10.0:beta2:*:*:*:*:*:*
osgeo mapserver 4.10.0 cpe:2.3:a:osgeo:mapserver:4.10.0:beta3:*:*:*:*:*:*
osgeo mapserver 4.10.0 cpe:2.3:a:osgeo:mapserver:4.10.0:rc1:*:*:*:*:*:*
osgeo mapserver 4.10.1 cpe:2.3:a:osgeo:mapserver:4.10.1:*:*:*:*:*:*:*
osgeo mapserver 4.10.2 cpe:2.3:a:osgeo:mapserver:4.10.2:*:*:*:*:*:*:*
osgeo mapserver 4.10.3 cpe:2.3:a:osgeo:mapserver:4.10.3:*:*:*:*:*:*:*
osgeo mapserver 4.10.4 cpe:2.3:a:osgeo:mapserver:4.10.4:*:*:*:*:*:*:*
osgeo mapserver 5.0.0 cpe:2.3:a:osgeo:mapserver:5.0.0:*:*:*:*:*:*:*
osgeo mapserver 5.0.0 cpe:2.3:a:osgeo:mapserver:5.0.0:beta1:*:*:*:*:*:*
osgeo mapserver 5.0.0 cpe:2.3:a:osgeo:mapserver:5.0.0:beta2:*:*:*:*:*:*
osgeo mapserver 5.0.0 cpe:2.3:a:osgeo:mapserver:5.0.0:beta3:*:*:*:*:*:*
osgeo mapserver 5.0.0 cpe:2.3:a:osgeo:mapserver:5.0.0:beta4:*:*:*:*:*:*
osgeo mapserver 5.0.0 cpe:2.3:a:osgeo:mapserver:5.0.0:beta5:*:*:*:*:*:*
osgeo mapserver 5.0.0 cpe:2.3:a:osgeo:mapserver:5.0.0:beta6:*:*:*:*:*:*
osgeo mapserver 5.0.0 cpe:2.3:a:osgeo:mapserver:5.0.0:rc1:*:*:*:*:*:*
osgeo mapserver 5.0.0 cpe:2.3:a:osgeo:mapserver:5.0.0:rc2:*:*:*:*:*:*
osgeo mapserver 5.2.0 cpe:2.3:a:osgeo:mapserver:5.2.0:*:*:*:*:*:*:*
osgeo mapserver 5.2.0 cpe:2.3:a:osgeo:mapserver:5.2.0:beta1:*:*:*:*:*:*
osgeo mapserver 5.2.0 cpe:2.3:a:osgeo:mapserver:5.2.0:beta2:*:*:*:*:*:*
osgeo mapserver 5.2.0 cpe:2.3:a:osgeo:mapserver:5.2.0:beta3:*:*:*:*:*:*
osgeo mapserver 5.2.0 cpe:2.3:a:osgeo:mapserver:5.2.0:beta4:*:*:*:*:*:*
osgeo mapserver 5.2.0 cpe:2.3:a:osgeo:mapserver:5.2.0:rc1:*:*:*:*:*:*
osgeo mapserver 5.4.0 cpe:2.3:a:osgeo:mapserver:5.4.0:*:*:*:*:*:*:*
osgeo mapserver 5.4.0 cpe:2.3:a:osgeo:mapserver:5.4.0:beta1:*:*:*:*:*:*
osgeo mapserver 5.4.0 cpe:2.3:a:osgeo:mapserver:5.4.0:beta2:*:*:*:*:*:*
osgeo mapserver 5.4.0 cpe:2.3:a:osgeo:mapserver:5.4.0:beta3:*:*:*:*:*:*
osgeo mapserver 5.4.0 cpe:2.3:a:osgeo:mapserver:5.4.0:beta4:*:*:*:*:*:*
osgeo mapserver 5.4.0 cpe:2.3:a:osgeo:mapserver:5.4.0:rc1:*:*:*:*:*:*
osgeo mapserver 5.4.0 cpe:2.3:a:osgeo:mapserver:5.4.0:rc2:*:*:*:*:*:*
osgeo mapserver 5.4.1 cpe:2.3:a:osgeo:mapserver:5.4.1:*:*:*:*:*:*:*
umn mapserver 4.0 cpe:2.3:a:umn:mapserver:4.0:*:*:*:*:*:*:*
umn mapserver 4.0 cpe:2.3:a:umn:mapserver:4.0:beta1:*:*:*:*:*:*
umn mapserver 4.0 cpe:2.3:a:umn:mapserver:4.0:beta2:*:*:*:*:*:*

References for CVE-2009-2281

cvelogic Threat Intelligence