CVE-2009-3337
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 · uneditedSQL injection vulnerability in the Freetag (serendipity_event_freetag) plugin before 3.09 for Serendipity (S9Y) allows remote attackers to execute arbitrary SQL commands via an unspecified parameter associated with Meta keywords in a blog entry.
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 · moderate confidenceSQL injection vulnerability in the Freetag (serendipity_event_freetag) plugin for Serendipity CMS allows remote attackers to execute arbitrary SQL commands via an unspecified parameter associated with Meta keywords in blog entries.
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< 3.09CVSS 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
- Authentication
- None
- Confidentiality
- Partial
- Integrity
- Partial
- Availability
- Partial
AV:N/AC:L/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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Verify Freetag plugin is installedAccess Serendipity CMS admin panel and navigate to Plugins section. Look for 'Freetag' or 'serendipity_event_freetag' in the installed plugins list.Affected if Freetag plugin appears in the installed plugins list
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Check installed Freetag plugin versionIn the Serendipity admin panel under Plugins, find the Freetag plugin details. Alternatively, check the plugin directory on the server for the version number in the plugin files (typically in the plugin's main PHP file or a version file).Affected if The displayed version number is lower than 3.09
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Confirm Meta keywords feature is enabledAccess the Freetag plugin configuration in Serendipity admin. Look for settings related to 'Meta keywords', 'tagging', or 'keywords' functionality. Verify the feature is active or set to 'enabled'.Affected if Meta keywords or tagging feature is enabled in the plugin configuration
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Inspect web server logs for suspicious SQL patternsCheck the web server access logs (Apache, Nginx) and Serendipity's own logs for unusual patterns in requests to blog entries, particularly in parameters related to tags or keywords. Look for SQL metacharacters like quotes, UNION, SELECT in URL parameters.Affected if Requests contain SQL injection patterns in tag/keyword parameters
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Review application-level input filteringIf present, check any web application firewall (WAF) configuration, Serendipity's input sanitization settings, or custom .htaccess rules that may provide compensating security controls for the Meta keywords parameter.Affected if No input validation or WAF protection exists for the Meta keywords parameter
A user is affected if the Freetag plugin (serendipity_event_freetag) is installed with a version lower than 3.09 and the Meta keywords feature is enabled, with no compensating input validation present.
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 data3.09
Update the Freetag plugin to version 3.09 or later. If immediate patching is not feasible, implement input validation/sanitization on Meta keyword parameters as a compensating control.
- Consultation2.0 h
- Implementation2.0 h
- Testing2.0 h
- Review / QA1.0 h
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Scan for this in your stack
Free · runs locallyCheck whether your project pulls in CVE-2009-3337 — 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-2009-3337 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
- No weaponised exploit code, or anything meant to cause harm
- No spam, self-promotion, credentials, or personal data