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Blackberry Enterprise ServerApplication · Research In Motion Limited

CVE-2009-0219

HIGH · 9.3 CVSS v2.0 Published 2009-01-21
Fix available
A fix is available. Upgrade to after 1.0.3 or later.
See remediation →
100/100
Remediation priority · Urgent
Remotely reachable No privileges Zero-click

Official description Straight from the sourceThe vendor's or NVD's own wording, published unedited. Authoritative, but often terse — it says what broke, rarely what to do.

NVD · unedited
The PDF distiller in the Attachment Service in Research in Motion (RIM) BlackBerry Enterprise Server (BES) 4.1.3 through 4.1.6, BlackBerry Professional Software 4.1.4, and BlackBerry Unite! before 1.0.3 bundle 28 performs delete operations on uninitialized pointers, which allows user-assisted remote attackers to execute arbitrary code via a crafted data stream in a .pdf file.

Technical summary Written by usOur analysis, written from the advisory, the CVSS vector and the affected-version data. It adds context the advisory leaves out, and never invents facts that are not in the source.

dbcve analysis · high confidence

The PDF distiller in BlackBerry Enterprise Server's Attachment Service performs delete operations on uninitialized pointers. This memory corruption vulnerability allows remote attackers to execute arbitrary code by tricking users into opening a specially crafted PDF file.

MitigationUpgrade to BlackBerry Enterprise Server 4.1.7 or later, BlackBerry Professional Software 4.1.5 or later, or BlackBerry Unite! 1.0.3 bundle 28 or later to patch the vulnerable PDF distiller component.

Verify against the referenced sources before acting — the references below are authoritative for this CVE, this summary is not.

Affected products & versions What the vendor confirmedThe version ranges the vendor confirmed as vulnerable. If your version sits inside a range here, treat yourself as exposed until you have upgraded.

NVD · CPE data
Blackberry Enterprise ServerApplication
Affected:= 4.1.3= 4.1.4= 4.1.5= 4.1.6
Blackberry Professional SoftwareApplication
Affected:= 4.1.4
Blackberry UniteApplication
Affected:<= 1.0.3= 1.0= 1.0.1= 1.0.2

CVSS breakdown How the score is builtThe industry scoring standard. It rates how the flaw is reached, what it takes to exploit, and what an attacker gains — the score is derived from those, not the other way round.

From the vector
Attack vector
Network
Complexity
M
Authentication
None
Confidentiality
Complete
Integrity
Complete
Availability
Complete

AV:N/AC:M/Au:N/C:C/I:C/A:C

Am I affected? How to checkSteps we derive from the advisory and the affected-version data, so you can decide whether this CVE reaches your setup. They are a guide, not a scan — your own configuration is the authority.

dbcve checks

Work through these to decide whether this CVE applies to you.

  1. Identify the installed BlackBerry product and version
    Locate the installed BlackBerry software on the system and retrieve its version number. For BlackBerry Enterprise Server, check the program version in Add/Remove Programs or the server documentation. For BlackBerry Professional Software or Unite, check the installed software version on the host machine.
    Affected if The installed version matches 4.1.3, 4.1.4, 4.1.5, or 4.1.6 for BES; 4.1.4 for Professional Software; or 1.0, 1.0.1, 1.0.2, or any version up to and including 1.0.3 for Unite.
  2. Verify the Attachment Service is enabled
    Check the BlackBerry server configuration to determine if the Attachment Service component is running. This is typically configured in the BlackBerry Administration Service or server management console.
    Affected if The Attachment Service is installed and enabled on the server.
  3. Confirm PDF handling is active in the Attachment Service
    Examine the Attachment Service settings to verify that PDF file processing or distilling functionality is enabled. Look for configuration options related to PDF conversion or attachment handling.
    Affected if PDF processing capability is enabled or available in the Attachment Service.

A user is affected if they have any of the listed vulnerable versions installed with the Attachment Service running and PDF processing enabled.

Generated from the published advisory. Verify against your own configuration.

Check your environment

Paste your version and any relevant configuration and it will be compared against the affected criteria above. Do not include secrets or credentials.

AI-assisted, checked against the advisory. Informational, not a guarantee.

Remediation Closing itWhat it takes to close this. Where a vendor fix exists we point at it; where none exists we say so plainly, and can build one. Effort estimates are scoped from the advisory, not from your codebase.

dbcve · scoped
Upgrade available Upgrade to a release after 1.0.3
Interim mitigation

Upgrade to BlackBerry Enterprise Server 4.1.7 or later, BlackBerry Professional Software 4.1.5 or later, or BlackBerry Unite! 1.0.3 bundle 28 or later to patch the vulnerable PDF distiller component.

Recommended fix Moderate confidence

BlackBerry Unite! 1.0.3 or later; contact BlackBerry for BES 4.1.x and Professional Software patches

  1. 1. Identify the specific BlackBerry product in use (Enterprise Server, Professional Software, or Unite!)
  2. 2. For BlackBerry Unite! users: Upgrade to version 1.0.3 or later to remediate the vulnerability
  3. 3. For BlackBerry Enterprise Server 4.1.x users: Contact RIM/BlackBerry for the appropriate security patch or consider upgrading to a newer BES version
  4. 4. For BlackBerry Professional Software 4.1.4 users: Contact RIM/BlackBerry for the appropriate security patch
  5. 5. After upgrading, verify the Attachment Service is functioning correctly
  6. 6. Ensure PDF files are scanned for malware before processing through the Attachment Service
Caveat Verify compatibility with existing BlackBerry device versions and enterprise configurations before upgrading

Generated from the published advisory — verify against the referenced sources before acting.

Fix this in Blackberry Enterprise Server Scoped from the published advisory
  • Consultation4.0 h
  • Implementation8.0 h
  • Testing6.0 h
  • Review / QA4.0 h
22.0 hours of engineering $3,860
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Scan for this in your stack

Free · runs locally
dbcve dependency scanner

Check whether your project pulls in CVE-2009-0219 — or any other known-vulnerable package — straight from your lock files. Free and open source; it runs locally and uploads nothing.

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References Go to the primary sourcePrimary sources — vendor advisories, patches and trackers. Where our summary and a reference disagree, the reference wins.

Primary sources

Practitioner notes

Contributed

Peer-ranked notes from engineers who’ve handled CVE-2009-0219 in production — separate from our analysis above.

No notes yet

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What this is

A place for practitioners to share what actually worked: a mitigation you’ve tested, a configuration change, a version- or environment-specific caveat, or a link to a verified patch. The most useful notes rise to the top as peers upvote them, so the signal stays high.

What belongs here
  • Verified mitigations, workarounds, and config changes
  • Version or environment caveats, and links to real fixes
  • No weaponised exploit code, or anything meant to cause harm
  • No spam, self-promotion, credentials, or personal data