CVE-2009-3547

HIGH EXPLOITED

Linux Kernel < 2.6.32-rc6 - Race Condition in Pipe Handling via /proc/*/fd/ Pathname

Title source: llm
STIX 2.1

Exploitation Summary

CVE-2009-3547 has been observed exploited in the wild (reported by VulnCheck KEV). EIP tracks 5 public exploits from researchers including Earl Chew, Matthew Bergin, teach & xipe.

AI-analyzed exploit summary This exploit targets a race condition in the Linux kernel (CVE-2009-3547) by manipulating file descriptors in /proc. It repeatedly spawns a process with a pipe, then attempts to write to the process's fd/1 to trigger the vulnerability.

Description

Multiple race conditions in fs/pipe.c in the Linux kernel before 2.6.32-rc6 allow local users to cause a denial of service (NULL pointer dereference and system crash) or gain privileges by attempting to open an anonymous pipe via a /proc/*/fd/ pathname.

Exploits (5)

exploitdb WORKING POC VERIFIED
by Earl Chew · bashlocallinux
https://www.exploit-db.com/exploits/10018

This exploit targets a race condition in the Linux kernel (CVE-2009-3547) by manipulating file descriptors in /proc. It repeatedly spawns a process with a pipe, then attempts to write to the process's fd/1 to trigger the vulnerability.

Classification
Working Poc 90%
Attack Type
Lpe
Complexity
Moderate
Reliability
Racy
Target: Linux kernel (versions affected by CVE-2009-3547)
No auth needed
Prerequisites: Access to a vulnerable Linux system · Ability to execute scripts
devstral-2 · analyzed Feb 16, 2026 Full analysis →
exploitdb WORKING POC VERIFIED
by Matthew Bergin · pythonlocallinux
https://www.exploit-db.com/exploits/9844

This exploit targets a race condition in the Linux kernel's pipe.c to achieve local privilege escalation. It attempts to manipulate file descriptors of a process to trigger the vulnerability.

Classification
Working Poc 90%
Attack Type
Lpe
Complexity
Moderate
Reliability
Racy
Target: Linux Kernel (versions affected by CVE-2009-3547)
Auth required
Prerequisites: Local access to the target system · Ability to execute commands
devstral-2 · analyzed Feb 16, 2026 Full analysis →
exploitdb WORKING POC VERIFIED
by teach & xipe · clocallinux
https://www.exploit-db.com/exploits/33322

This exploit targets a NULL-pointer dereference vulnerability in the Linux kernel's pipe.c (CVE-2009-3547) to achieve local privilege escalation. It manipulates kernel memory structures to overwrite credentials and spawn a root shell.

Classification
Working Poc 95%
Attack Type
Lpe
Complexity
Complex
Reliability
Racy
Target: Linux kernel 2.6.x
No auth needed
Prerequisites: Local access to the target system · Kernel version vulnerable to CVE-2009-3547
devstral-2 · analyzed Feb 16, 2026 Full analysis →
exploitdb WORKING POC VERIFIED
by teach & xipe · clocallinux
https://www.exploit-db.com/exploits/33321

This exploit targets a NULL-pointer dereference vulnerability in the Linux kernel's pipe implementation (CVE-2009-3547) to achieve local privilege escalation. It maps kernel structures to NULL, manipulates pipe buffers, and escalates privileges by overwriting kernel memory.

Classification
Working Poc 95%
Attack Type
Lpe
Complexity
Complex
Reliability
Racy
Target: Linux kernel 2.6.0 to 2.6.31
No auth needed
Prerequisites: Local access to the target system · Kernel version between 2.6.0 and 2.6.31
devstral-2 · analyzed Feb 16, 2026 Full analysis →
exploitdb WORKING POC
by spender · clocallinux
https://www.exploit-db.com/exploits/40812

This exploit targets a null pointer dereference vulnerability in the Linux kernel (CVE-2009-3547) to achieve local privilege escalation. It manipulates pipe operations and spinlocks to gain root access on vulnerable systems.

Classification
Working Poc 95%
Attack Type
Lpe
Complexity
Moderate
Reliability
Reliable
Target: Linux kernel <= 2.6.31.5
No auth needed
Prerequisites: Local access to the target system · Vulnerable kernel version
devstral-2 · analyzed Feb 16, 2026 Full analysis →

References (29)

Core 29
Core References
Broken Link, Third Party Advisory vdb-entry signature x_refsource_oval
https://oval.cisecurity.org/repository/search/definition/oval%3Aorg.mitre.oval%3Adef%3A11513
Broken Link vendor-advisory x_refsource_redhat
http://www.redhat.com/support/errata/RHSA-2009-1672.html
Broken Link, Third Party Advisory, VDB Entry mailing-list x_refsource_bugtraq
http://www.securityfocus.com/archive/1/512019/100/0/threaded
Broken Link, Exploit, Third Party Advisory, VDB Entry vdb-entry x_refsource_bid
http://www.securityfocus.com/bid/36901
Third Party Advisory vendor-advisory x_refsource_redhat
https://rhn.redhat.com/errata/RHSA-2009-1540.html
Third Party Advisory vendor-advisory x_refsource_ubuntu
http://www.ubuntu.com/usn/usn-864-1
Broken Link third-party-advisory x_refsource_secunia
http://secunia.com/advisories/38794
Mailing List, Third Party Advisory mailing-list x_refsource_mlist
http://lists.vmware.com/pipermail/security-announce/2010/000082.html
Mailing List, Patch mailing-list x_refsource_mlist
http://lkml.org/lkml/2009/10/21/42
Mailing List, Third Party Advisory vendor-advisory x_refsource_suse
http://lists.opensuse.org/opensuse-security-announce/2010-01/msg00000.html
Third Party Advisory vendor-advisory x_refsource_redhat
https://rhn.redhat.com/errata/RHSA-2009-1541.html
Broken Link vendor-advisory x_refsource_mandriva
http://www.mandriva.com/security/advisories?name=MDVSA-2009:329
Broken Link third-party-advisory x_refsource_secunia
http://secunia.com/advisories/37351
Mailing List, Third Party Advisory vendor-advisory x_refsource_suse
http://lists.opensuse.org/opensuse-security-announce/2009-11/msg00007.html
Broken Link, Mailing List, Third Party Advisory vendor-advisory x_refsource_suse
http://lists.opensuse.org/opensuse-security-announce/2010-02/msg00005.html
Broken Link, Third Party Advisory vdb-entry signature x_refsource_oval
https://oval.cisecurity.org/repository/search/definition/oval%3Aorg.mitre.oval%3Adef%3A7608
Mailing List, Third Party Advisory mailing-list x_refsource_mlist
http://marc.info/?l=oss-security&m=125724568017045&w=2
Third Party Advisory vendor-advisory x_refsource_redhat
https://rhn.redhat.com/errata/RHSA-2009-1548.html
Broken Link third-party-advisory x_refsource_secunia
http://secunia.com/advisories/38834
Exploit, Mailing List mailing-list x_refsource_mlist
http://lkml.org/lkml/2009/10/14/184
Third Party Advisory vendor-advisory x_refsource_redhat
https://rhn.redhat.com/errata/RHSA-2009-1550.html
Broken Link, Third Party Advisory vdb-entry signature x_refsource_oval
https://oval.cisecurity.org/repository/search/definition/oval%3Aorg.mitre.oval%3Adef%3A9327
Mailing List, Third Party Advisory vendor-advisory x_refsource_suse
http://lists.opensuse.org/opensuse-security-announce/2009-11/msg00005.html
Issue Tracking, Patch, Third Party Advisory x_refsource_confirm
https://bugzilla.redhat.com/show_bug.cgi?id=530490
Broken Link third-party-advisory x_refsource_secunia
http://secunia.com/advisories/38017
Broken Link vdb-entry x_refsource_vupen
http://www.vupen.com/english/advisories/2010/0528

Scores

CVSS v3 7.0
EPSS 0.0201
EPSS Percentile 84.2%
Attack Vector LOCAL
CVSS:3.1/AV:L/AC:H/PR:L/UI:N/S:U/C:H/I:H/A:H

Details

VulnCheck KEV 2026-02-09
CWE
CWE-362 CWE-476 CWE-672
Status published
Products (27)
canonical/ubuntu_linux 6.06
canonical/ubuntu_linux 8.04
canonical/ubuntu_linux 8.10
canonical/ubuntu_linux 9.04
canonical/ubuntu_linux 9.10
fedoraproject/fedora 10
linux/linux_kernel 2.6.32 (6 CPE variants)
linux/linux_kernel < 2.6.31.14
novell/linux_desktop 9
opensuse/opensuse 11.0
... and 17 more
Published Nov 04, 2009
Tracked Since Feb 18, 2026