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Ubuntu LinuxOperating system · Ubuntu

CVE-2009-0578

MEDIUM · 6.2 CVSS v2.0 Published 2009-03-05
Mitigation only
No fix yet — a mitigation exists. There is no fixed release. A documented workaround reduces exposure in the meantime.
See remediation →
64/100
Remediation priority · Elevated
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
GNOME NetworkManager before 0.7.0.99 does not properly verify privileges for dbus (1) modify and (2) delete requests, which allows local users to change or remove the network connections of arbitrary users via unspecified vectors related to org.freedesktop.NetworkManagerUserSettings and at_console.

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

GNOME NetworkManager before version 0.7.0.99 lacks proper privilege validation in its D-Bus interface for the org.freedesktop.NetworkManagerUserSettings service. The vulnerability allows local users to modify or delete network connection settings belonging to other users by exploiting insufficient access control checks on at_console operations.

MitigationUpgrade NetworkManager to version 0.7.0.99 or later. Additionally, review and restrict D-Bus policy configurations to ensure only authorized users can modify network settings.

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
Ubuntu LinuxOperating system
Affected:= 8.10

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
Local
Complexity
Low
Authentication
Single
Confidentiality
None
Integrity
Complete
Availability
Complete

AV:L/AC:L/Au:S/C:N/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. Verify NetworkManager is installed
    Run 'dpkg -l | grep network-manager' or 'which NetworkManager' to confirm NetworkManager package is present on the system
    Affected if NetworkManager is installed and the package version is below 0.7.0.99
  2. Check installed NetworkManager version
    Run 'network-manager --version' or 'dpkg -s network-manager' to retrieve the exact version number
    Affected if The installed version is earlier than 0.7.0.99 (e.g., 0.7.0, 0.6.x, or earlier)
  3. Confirm Ubuntu version
    Run 'lsb_release -r' or check '/etc/lsb-release' to verify the Ubuntu release
    Affected if Running Ubuntu 8.10 (Intrepid Ibex)
  4. Identify D-Bus service exposure
    Run 'dbus-send --system --dest=org.freedesktop.NetworkManagerUserSettings --print-reply /org/freedesktop/NetworkManagerSettings org.freedesktop.NetworkManagerSettings.ListConnections' to test if the vulnerable D-Bus interface is accessible
    Affected if The D-Bus call returns successfully without proper authorization errors, indicating the org.freedesktop.NetworkManagerUserSettings service is exposed

A system is affected if it runs Ubuntu 8.10 with NetworkManager version 0.7.0.99 or earlier, and the org.freedesktop.NetworkManagerUserSettings D-Bus service is accessible without adequate access control restrictions.

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.

From vendor data
Mitigation available No clean upgrade yet — mitigate in the meantime
Mitigation

Upgrade NetworkManager to version 0.7.0.99 or later. Additionally, review and restrict D-Bus policy configurations to ensure only authorized users can modify network settings.

Fix this in Ubuntu Linux Scoped from the published advisory
  • Consultation4.0 h
  • Implementation2.0 h
  • Testing4.0 h
  • Review / QA2.0 h
12.0 hours of engineering $2,120
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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-2009-0578 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
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