CVE-2009-5097
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 · uneditedPalm Pre WebOS 1.1 and earlier processes JavaScript in email messages, which allows remote attackers to execute arbitrary JavaScript, as demonstrated by reading PalmDatabase.db3.
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 Palm Pre WebOS 1.1 and earlier email client processes and executes JavaScript embedded in HTML email messages instead of sanitizing or stripping script content. This allows remote attackers sending malicious emails to inject and execute arbitrary JavaScript in the context of the email client, enabling unauthorized access to local files such as the PalmDatabase.db3 database.
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<= 1.1.0= 1.0.2= 1.0.3= 1.0.4CVSS 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
- Complete
- Integrity
- None
- Availability
- None
AV:N/AC:M/Au:N/C:C/I:N/A:N
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 installed WebOS versionOn the Palm Pre device, go to Settings > About Phone to view the OS version number. Alternatively, connect the device via USB and use the webos doctor or developer mode to query the system version.Affected if The version is 1.0.2, 1.0.3, 1.0.4, or any version up to and including 1.1.0.
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Confirm HTML email rendering is enabledOpen the email application, go to Settings or Preferences, and verify whether HTML email display is turned on. The vulnerability only applies when HTML emails are rendered rather than displayed as plain text.Affected if HTML email rendering is enabled in the email client settings.
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Check if the email client processes HTML contentSend a test HTML email to the Palm Pre device (or inspect received emails) to confirm the client renders HTML instead of stripping script tags. View the email in the client and check if HTML formatting is displayed.Affected if The email client displays HTML-formatted emails without sanitizing script tags or event handlers.
The device is affected if it runs WebOS version 1.0.2 through 1.1.0 and has HTML email rendering enabled in the email client, allowing scripts in emails to execute.
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 dataEmail client should be patched to strip or disable JavaScript execution in HTML email messages by sanitizing HTML content (removing script tags, event handlers, and javascript: URIs) before rendering, following established email security best practices.
- Consultation3.0 h
- Implementation8.0 h
- Testing4.0 h
- Review / QA2.0 h
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Scan for this in your stack
Free · runs locallyCheck whether your project pulls in CVE-2009-5097 — 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-2009-5097 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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A place for practitioners to share what actually worked: a mitigation you’ve tested, a configuration change, a version- or environment-specific caveat, or a link to a verified patch. The most useful notes rise to the top as peers upvote them, so the signal stays high.
- 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