Vulnerabilities
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CVE Vulnerabilities

CVE-2009-0040

Access of Uninitialized Pointer

Published: Feb 22, 2009 | Modified: Apr 09, 2025
CVSS 3.x
N/A
Source:
NVD
CVSS 2.x
6.8 MEDIUM
AV:N/AC:M/Au:N/C:P/I:P/A:P
RedHat/V2
6.8 MODERATE
AV:N/AC:M/Au:N/C:P/I:P/A:P
RedHat/V3
Ubuntu
MEDIUM
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Additional information
NVDhttps://nvd.nist.gov/vuln/detail/CVE-2009-0040
CWEhttps://cwe.mitre.org/data/definitions/824.html

The PNG reference library (aka libpng) before 1.0.43, and 1.2.x before 1.2.35, as used in pngcrush and other applications, allows context-dependent attackers to cause a denial of service (application crash) or possibly execute arbitrary code via a crafted PNG file that triggers a free of an uninitialized pointer in (1) the png_read_png function, (2) pCAL chunk handling, or (3) setup of 16-bit gamma tables.

Weakness

The product accesses or uses a pointer that has not been initialized.

Affected Software

NameVendorStart VersionEnd Version
LibpngLibpng*1.0.43 (excluding)
LibpngLibpng1.2.0 (including)1.2.35 (excluding)
Red Hat Enterprise Linux 2.1RedHatseamonkey-0:1.0.9-0.30.el2*
Red Hat Enterprise Linux 2.1RedHatlibpng-2:1.0.14-12*
Red Hat Enterprise Linux 3RedHatseamonkey-0:1.0.9-0.34.el3*
Red Hat Enterprise Linux 3RedHatlibpng-2:1.2.2-29*
Red Hat Enterprise Linux 3RedHatlibpng10-0:1.0.13-20*
Red Hat Enterprise Linux 4RedHatfirefox-0:3.0.7-1.el4*
Red Hat Enterprise Linux 4RedHatseamonkey-0:1.0.9-38.el4*
Red Hat Enterprise Linux 4RedHatlibpng-2:1.2.7-3.el4_7.2*
Red Hat Enterprise Linux 4RedHatlibpng10-0:1.0.16-3.el4_7.3*
Red Hat Enterprise Linux 5RedHatfirefox-0:3.0.7-1.el5*
Red Hat Enterprise Linux 5RedHatxulrunner-0:1.9.0.7-1.el5*
Red Hat Enterprise Linux 5RedHatlibpng-2:1.2.10-7.1.el5_3.2*
FirefoxUbuntudapper*
FirefoxUbuntugutsy*
FirefoxUbuntuhardy*
Firefox-3.0Ubuntudevel*
Firefox-3.0Ubuntugutsy*
Firefox-3.0Ubuntuhardy*
Firefox-3.0Ubuntuintrepid*
Firefox-3.0Ubuntujaunty*
Firefox-3.5Ubuntudevel*
Firefox-3.5Ubuntujaunty*
IceapeUbuntugutsy*
LibpngUbuntudapper*
LibpngUbuntudevel*
LibpngUbuntugutsy*
LibpngUbuntuhardy*
LibpngUbuntuintrepid*
LibpngUbuntujaunty*
LibpngUbuntuupstream*
Mozilla-thunderbirdUbuntudapper*
SeamonkeyUbuntudevel*
SeamonkeyUbuntuhardy*
SeamonkeyUbuntuintrepid*
SeamonkeyUbuntujaunty*
ThunderbirdUbuntudevel*
ThunderbirdUbuntugutsy*
ThunderbirdUbuntuhardy*
ThunderbirdUbuntuintrepid*
ThunderbirdUbuntujaunty*
XulrunnerUbuntudevel*
XulrunnerUbuntugutsy*
XulrunnerUbuntuhardy*
XulrunnerUbuntuintrepid*
XulrunnerUbuntujaunty*
Xulrunner-1.9Ubuntudevel*
Xulrunner-1.9Ubuntugutsy*
Xulrunner-1.9Ubuntuhardy*
Xulrunner-1.9Ubuntuintrepid*
Xulrunner-1.9Ubuntujaunty*
Xulrunner-1.9.1Ubuntudevel*
Xulrunner-1.9.1Ubuntujaunty*

Extended Description

If the pointer contains an uninitialized value, then the value might not point to a valid memory location. This could cause the product to read from or write to unexpected memory locations, leading to a denial of service. If the uninitialized pointer is used as a function call, then arbitrary functions could be invoked. If an attacker can influence the portion of uninitialized memory that is contained in the pointer, this weakness could be leveraged to execute code or perform other attacks. Depending on memory layout, associated memory management behaviors, and product operation, the attacker might be able to influence the contents of the uninitialized pointer, thus gaining more fine-grained control of the memory location to be accessed.

References

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