CVE-2009-1544
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 · uneditedDouble free vulnerability in the Workstation service in Microsoft Windows allows remote authenticated users to gain privileges via a crafted RPC message to a Windows XP SP2 or SP3 or Server 2003 SP2 system, or cause a denial of service via a crafted RPC message to a Vista Gold, SP1, or SP2 or Server 2008 Gold or SP2 system, aka "Workstation Service Memory Corruption Vulnerability."
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 confidenceDouble-free vulnerability in the Windows Workstation service allows remote authenticated attackers to send crafted RPC messages. On Windows XP and Server 2003, this enables privilege escalation; on Vista and Server 2008, it causes denial of service.
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= sp2all versionsall versionsall versionsCVSS 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
- Low
- Privileges
- Low
- User interaction
- None
- Scope
- Unchanged
- Confidentiality
- High
- Integrity
- High
- Availability
- High
CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:L/PR:L/UI:N/S:U/C:H/I:H/A:H
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 checksWork through these to decide whether this CVE applies to you.
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Identify Windows versionRun 'systeminfo' or 'winver' to determine the exact Windows version and service pack levelAffected if Version is Windows XP (any SP), Windows 2003 Server SP2, Windows Vista (any version), or Windows Server 2008 (any version)
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Verify Workstation service statusRun 'sc query workstation' or check Services.msc to see if the Workstation service (also called lanmanworkstation) is runningAffected if The Workstation service is enabled and running - the vulnerability exists within this service
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Check for security update MS09-039Run 'wmic qfe list' or check 'Add/Remove Programs' for installed updates to see if security update MS09-039 is presentAffected if MS09-039 is NOT installed - the vulnerability patch has not been applied
If the system runs a vulnerable Windows version (XP, 2003 SP2, Vista, or 2008), has the Workstation service enabled, and is missing security update MS09-039, the environment is affected by this CVE.
Generated from the published advisory. Verify against your own configuration.
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 dataApply Microsoft security update MS09-039 (or subsequent relevant patches). If patching is not feasible, restrict RPC network access to trusted authenticated users or disable the Workstation service if not required.
- Consultation3.0 h
- Implementation4.0 h
- Testing2.0 h
- Review / QA1.0 h
An estimate, not a bill — we confirm scope with you before any work starts. Need it this week? Rush from $2,880.
Scan for this in your stack
Free · runs locallyCheck whether your project pulls in CVE-2009-1544 — or any other known-vulnerable package — straight from your lock files. Free and open source; it runs locally and uploads nothing.
References Go to the primary sourcePrimary sources — vendor advisories, patches and trackers. Where our summary and a reference disagree, the reference wins.
Primary sourcesPractitioner notes
ContributedPeer-ranked notes from engineers who’ve handled CVE-2009-1544 in production — separate from our analysis above.
The advisory tells you what broke. It rarely tells you what actually worked. If you’ve dealt with this one, that detail is what the next engineer is searching for.
- The version that genuinely resolved it — not the one the vendor claimed
- A config change or rule that shut the vector down
- A gotcha in the upgrade path that cost you an afternoon
No notes yet
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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.
- 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