Vulnerability record · CVE-2009-4018 · published 29 November 2009
CVE-2009-4018: Php permissions and access controls vulnerability
Php · Php
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.
Description
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.
AV:N/AC:L/Au:N/C:P/I:P/A:P
Affected products
1 vulnerable configurations from NVD's CPE data, grouped by vendor and product.
References
Track CVE-2009-4018 inside VULONE
Watch it alongside the ransomware crews, C2 infrastructure and forum chatter that reference it, query it through the API and pull it into your SIEM over TAXII.
Related vulnerabilities
Same products first, then exploited flaws of the same weakness class.
Source: NIST National Vulnerability Database (record CVE-2009-4018), CISA KEV, FIRST EPSS (scores of 2026-09-26). This page is refreshed as NVD updates the record.