CVE-2009-1238

macOS X < 10.5.6 - Denial of Service via HFS vfs sysctl Race Condition

Title source: llm
STIX 2.1

Exploitation Summary

EIP tracks 1 public exploit for CVE-2009-1238. PoCs published by mu-b.

AI-analyzed exploit summary This exploit targets a local kernel DoS vulnerability in Apple MACOS X xnu <= 1228.x by repeatedly calling sysctl with crafted arguments to trigger a denial-of-service condition. It spawns multiple threads to amplify the effect.

Description

Race condition in the HFS vfs sysctl interface in XNU 1228.8.20 and earlier on Apple Mac OS X 10.5.6 and earlier allows local users to cause a denial of service (kernel memory corruption) by simultaneously executing the same HFS_SET_PKG_EXTENSIONS code path in multiple threads, which is problematic because of lack of mutex locking for an unspecified global variable.

Exploits (1)

exploitdb WORKING POC VERIFIED
by mu-b · cdososx
https://www.exploit-db.com/exploits/8265

This exploit targets a local kernel DoS vulnerability in Apple MACOS X xnu <= 1228.x by repeatedly calling sysctl with crafted arguments to trigger a denial-of-service condition. It spawns multiple threads to amplify the effect.

Classification
Working Poc 95%
Attack Type
Dos
Complexity
Trivial
Reliability
Reliable
Target: Apple MACOS X xnu <= 1228.x
No auth needed
Prerequisites: Local access to the target system
devstral-2 · analyzed Feb 16, 2026 Full analysis →

References (5)

Core 5
Core References
Exploit, Third Party Advisory exploit x_refsource_exploit-db
https://www.exploit-db.com/exploits/8265
Exploit vdb-entry x_refsource_bid
http://www.securityfocus.com/bid/34202
Third Party Advisory third-party-advisory x_refsource_secunia
http://secunia.com/advisories/34424

Scores

EPSS 0.0062
EPSS Percentile 44.9%

Details

CWE
CWE-362
Status published
Products (47)
apple/mac_os_x 10.0
apple/mac_os_x 10.0.0
apple/mac_os_x 10.0.1
apple/mac_os_x 10.0.2
apple/mac_os_x 10.0.3
apple/mac_os_x 10.0.4
apple/mac_os_x 10.1
apple/mac_os_x 10.1.0
apple/mac_os_x 10.1.1
apple/mac_os_x 10.1.2
... and 37 more
Published Apr 02, 2009
Tracked Since Feb 18, 2026