CVE-2009-4556
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 · uneditedQuick Heal AntiVirus Plus 2009 10.00 SP1 and Quick Heal Total Security 2009 10.00 SP1 use weak permissions (Everyone: Full Control) for the product files, which allows local users to gain privileges by replacing executables with Trojan horse programs, as demonstrated by replacing quhlpsvc.exe.
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 confidenceQuick Heal AntiVirus Plus 2009 and Total Security 2009 install product files with weak permissions, granting the 'Everyone' group Full Control access. Local users can replace legitimate executables (such as quhlpsvc.exe) with malicious code, achieving privilege escalation when the replaced file is executed.
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= 10.00= 10.00CVSS 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
- None
- Confidentiality
- Complete
- Integrity
- Complete
- Availability
- Complete
AV:L/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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Identify if Quick Heal 2009 is installedCheck Add/Remove Programs or look for Quick Heal installation in C:\Program Files\Quick Heal. Verify the version number displayed is 10.00Affected if Quick Heal Antivirus Plus 2009 or Total Security 2009 version 10.00 is installed
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Locate the Quick Heal installation directoryCommon paths include C:\Program Files\Quick Heal\ or C:\Program Files\Quick Heal AntiVirus\. Check the specific product subfolder such as 'AntiVirus Plus 2009' or 'Total Security 2009'Affected if The product installation directory exists on the system
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Check file permissions on the Quick Heal program directoryRight-click the Quick Heal installation folder, go to Properties > Security tab. Examine the permissions listed for each group or user. Alternatively, run 'icacls "C:\Program Files\Quick Heal"' from an elevated command promptAffected if The 'Everyone' group appears in the list of allowed users/groups for the directory
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Verify Everyone group has Full Control permissionsIn the Security tab, select the Everyone group and click 'Edit' to view permissions. Check if the 'Full Control' checkbox under 'Allow' is ticked, or run 'icacls "C:\Program Files\Quick Heal" | findstr Everyone' to see the granted permissionsAffected if The Everyone group is granted Full Control permissions (allows full read, write, and execute access)
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Check permissions on critical executable filesInspect permissions on key executables such as quhlpsvc.exe in the installation directory. Run 'icacls "C:\Program Files\Quick Heal\...\quhlpsvc.exe"' or check via the Security tabAffected if The Everyone group has Full Control on executable files within the Quick Heal directory
A user is affected if Quick Heal AntiVirus Plus 2009 or Total Security 2009 version 10.00 is installed and the Everyone group has Full Control permissions on the installation directory or its executables.
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 dataRestrict file permissions on the Quick Heal product directory to remove 'Everyone: Full Control' and assign restrictive permissions to authorized administrators and the SYSTEM account only.
- 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-2009-4556 — 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-2009-4556 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