CVE-2009-4607
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 · uneditedThe command line interface in Overland Storage Snap Server 410 with GuardianOS 5.1.041 runs the "less" utility with a higher-privileged uid than the CLI user and without sufficient restriction on shell escapes, which allows local users to gain privileges using the "!" character within less to access a privileged shell.
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 confidenceThe Snap Server 410's CLI runs the 'less' utility with elevated privileges (higher uid) than the logged-in CLI user. The '!' command within less allows executing shell commands, and due to less running as a privileged user, this enables local users to escape to a root shell and gain full system control.
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 versions= 5.1.041CVSS 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 the Snap Server model and OS versionRun 'version' or 'show system info' at the CLI prompt, or check the boot screen for model number and firmware versionAffected if The device is an Overlandstorage Snap Server 410 with any firmware version, or GuardianOS version 5.1.041
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Verify CLI user contextLog into the CLI and run 'whoami' or check the current user prompt to confirm you are a non-root CLI userAffected if You are logged in as a limited CLI user (not root)
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Test less utility privilege levelAt the CLI, run 'less /etc/passwd' then press '!' and execute 'id' to see the UID under which less operatesAffected if less executes with a UID higher than your current CLI user (e.g., your UID is 1000 but less shows UID 0)
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Confirm shell escape is functionalWithin less, press '!' and run a test command like 'echo test', or attempt to spawn a shell with '! /bin/sh'Affected if The '!' command executes commands and they run with elevated (root) privileges
A user is affected if they have CLI access to a Snap Server 410 or GuardianOS 5.1.041 and can execute the '!' command within less to gain root-level command execution.
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 the less utility from running with elevated privileges, disable shell escape in less via the LESS environment variable (e.g., set LESS='-q -X'), or apply vendor patches if available for GuardianOS 5.1.041.
- Consultation2.0 h
- Implementation1.0 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-2009-4607 — 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-2009-4607 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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- Version or environment caveats, and links to real fixes
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