SafariWeb browser · Apple
CVE-2009-2804
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 · uneditedInteger overflow in ColorSync in Apple Mac OS X 10.4.11 and 10.5.8, and Safari before 4.0.4 on Windows, allows remote attackers to execute arbitrary code or cause a denial of service (application crash) via a crafted ColorSync profile embedded in an image, leading to a heap-based buffer overflow.
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 confidenceInteger overflow vulnerability in Apple ColorSync color management component when parsing specially crafted ColorSync profiles embedded within image files. The overflow occurs during profile parsing and leads to heap-based buffer overflow, potentially allowing remote code execution or denial of service via maliciously constructed images.
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
SafariWeb browser
<= 4.0.3= 0.8= 0.9= 1.0= 1.0.0= 1.0.0b1= 1.0.0b2= 1.0.1= 1.0.2= 1.0.3= 1.1.0= 1.1.1= 10.4.11= 10.5.8= 10.4.11= 10.5.8CVSS 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
- Partial
- Integrity
- Partial
- Availability
- Partial
AV:N/AC:M/Au:N/C:P/I:P/A:P
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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Check Safari versionOn Windows: Help > About Safari. On Mac: Safari > About Safari. Alternatively, check the executable version property or use ' safari --version' if available.Affected if Version is 4.0.3 or lower, or one of these versions: 0.8, 0.9, 1.0, 1.0.0, 1.0.0b1, 1.0.0b2, 1.0.1, 1.0.2, 1.0.3, 1.1.0, or 1.1.1
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Check Mac OS X versionClick Apple menu > About This Mac. The version number is displayed.Affected if Version is exactly 10.4.11 or 10.5.8 (these are the vulnerable versions; later versions include the patch)
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Verify ColorSync component presenceOn Mac OS X, check /System/Library/Frameworks/ApplicationServices.framework/Frameworks/ColorSync.framework for the ColorSync component. On Windows with Safari, check the Safari application directory for ColorSync-related files.Affected if ColorSync.framework exists and is the version bundled with the vulnerable Safari/OS versions above
You are affected if you run Safari version 4.0.3 or lower (including older beta versions) on Mac OS X 10.4.11 or 10.5.8, or if you run the listed Safari versions on any platform and open untrusted images containing malformed ColorSync profiles.
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 vendor-supplied patches: update Mac OS X to 10.4.11/10.5.8 or later, and Safari to 4.0.4 or later on Windows. Avoid opening images from untrusted sources until patches are applied.
Fix this in Safari
Scoped from the published advisory
- Consultation1.0 h
- Implementation2.0 h
- Testing1.0 h
- Review / QA1.0 h
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Scan for this in your stack
Free · runs locallyCheck whether your project pulls in CVE-2009-2804 — 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-2009-2804 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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- Verified mitigations, workarounds, and config changes
- Version or environment caveats, and links to real fixes
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