CVE-2009-5132
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 Filtering Service in Websense Web Security and Web Filter before 6.3.1 Hotfix 106 and 7.x before 7.1 allow remote attackers to cause a denial of service (filtering outage) via a crafted URL.
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 Filtering Service in Websense Web Security and Web Filter contains a vulnerability that allows remote attackers to cause a denial of service via a crafted URL, resulting in a filtering outage. The vulnerability affects versions before 6.3.1 Hotfix 106 and 7.x before 7.1.
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<= 6.3.1= 7.0<= 6.3.1= 6.3.0= 7.0CVSS 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
- None
- Integrity
- None
- Availability
- Partial
AV:N/AC:L/Au:N/C:N/I:N/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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Identify installed Websense product and versionLocate the installed version of Websense Web Security or Web Filter using the product's administrative console, command-line tools, or product information dialog. Look for a version number displayed in the UI or obtainable via a version query command.Affected if The version shown is 6.3.1 or lower, or exactly version 7.0 (these versions are within the affected range)
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Confirm the specific product editionDetermine whether the installed product is Websense Web Filter or Websense Web Security, as both are affected by this vulnerability according to the advisory.Affected if The installed product is either Websense Web Filter or Websense Web Security in a vulnerable version
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Verify Filtering Service is enabledCheck if the Filtering Service component is active on the Websense server. This can be done through the Websense administrative interface or by checking the status of the filtering service process.Affected if The Filtering Service is running and accessible, as the vulnerability triggers through this service via crafted URLs
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Compare version against affected rangesReview the exact version number identified in step 1 against the known affected versions: all versions <= 6.3.1, and version 7.0 specifically.Affected if The installed version falls within <= 6.3.1 or equals 7.0, placing it in the vulnerable range
A system is affected if Websense Web Security or Web Filter is installed with a version at or below 6.3.1, or exactly version 7.0, and the Filtering Service is enabled.
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 dataUpgrade to Websense Web Security and Web Filter version 6.3.1 Hotfix 106 or 7.1 or later to resolve the vulnerability.
- Consultation1.0 h
- Implementation2.0 h
- Testing2.0 h
- Review / QA1.0 h
An estimate, not a bill — we confirm scope with you before any work starts. Need it this week? Rush from $1,664.
Scan for this in your stack
Free · runs locallyCheck whether your project pulls in CVE-2009-5132 — 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-2009-5132 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