CVE-2009-4189
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 · uneditedHP Operations Manager has a default password of OvW*busr1 for the ovwebusr account, which allows remote attackers to execute arbitrary code via a session that uses the manager role to conduct unrestricted file upload attacks against the /manager servlet in the Tomcat servlet container. NOTE: this might overlap CVE-2009-3099 and CVE-2009-3843.
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 confidenceHP Operations Manager includes a Tomcat servlet container with the ovwebusr account, which has a well-known default password (OvW*busr1). Attackers with this credentials can authenticate and use the manager role to upload arbitrary files via the /manager servlet, achieving remote code execution.
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 dataall 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
- Authentication
- None
- Confidentiality
- Complete
- Integrity
- Complete
- Availability
- Complete
AV:N/AC:L/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 checksWork through these to decide whether this CVE applies to you.
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Verify HP Operations Manager installationCheck if HP Operations Manager is installed on the system by looking for the product in installed software or checking for HP OM processes/services running.Affected if HP Operations Manager is present on the system
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Locate ovwebusr account configurationFind the Tomcat user configuration file (typically conf/tomcat-users.xml or similar) within the HP Operations Manager Tomcat installation and check if the ovwebusr account is defined with manager role.Affected if The ovwebusr account exists with manager or admin role in the Tomcat configuration
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Check ovwebusr password against defaultCompare the password hash or configuration for ovwebusr against the known default password 'OvW*busr1'. This may require accessing the Tomcat configuration file or attempting authentication with these credentials.Affected if The ovwebusr account still uses the default password 'OvW*busr1'
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Verify /manager servlet accessibilityCheck if the Tomcat manager application (/manager/html or /manager) is accessible over the network or from remote hosts without authentication restrictions.Affected if The /manager servlet is exposed and accessible without additional access controls
A system is affected if HP Operations Manager is installed with the ovwebusr account still configured using the default password 'OvW*busr1' and the /manager servlet is accessible.
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 dataImmediately change the default password for the ovwebusr account to a strong, unique password. If the account is not required for operations, disable or remove it. Restrict network access to the /manager servlet and apply vendor patches.
- Consultation2.0 h
- Implementation1.0 h
- Testing2.0 h
- Review / QA1.0 h
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Free · runs locallyCheck whether your project pulls in CVE-2009-4189 — 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-2009-4189 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
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