CVE-2009-1238

What it is

Race condition in the HFS vfs sysctl interface in XNU 1228.8.20 and earlier on Apple Mac OS X 10.5.6 and earlier allows local users to cause a denial of service (kernel memory corruption) by simultaneously executing the same HFS_SET_PKG_EXTENSIONS code path in multiple threads, which is problematic because of lack of mutex locking for an unspecified global variable.

At a glance

Exploitability

Can be exploited locally on the machine without logging in. High risk of data exposure, data tampering, service disruption.

Exploit odds

0.6% chance of exploitation in the next 30 days (EPSS).

Fix

No patch or advisory is linked yet. Look at mitigations or restrict exposure.

Timeline

1. 2009-04-02 17:30 UTC PublishedDisclosed publicly on CVE.org and NVD
2. 2026-06-16 23:06 UTC Last updatedMost recent change to the record

Why it ranks here

• Exploited in the wild: no, CISA does not list it.
• Exploit odds: 0.6% in the next 30 days (EPSS).
• Severity: 7.2 HIGH (CVSS).
• Fix: none linked yet, which raises it.

Details

Published

2009-04-02 17:30 UTC

Last modified

2026-06-16 23:06 UTC

Exploit probability

0.6% · EPSS, next 30 days

Weakness

CWE-362 · Race condition

Record status

Modified

Affected

• Apple Mac Os X ≤ 10.5.6
• Apple Mac Os X 10.0
• Apple Mac Os X 10.0.0
• Apple Mac Os X 10.0.1
• Apple Mac Os X 10.0.2
• Apple Mac Os X 10.0.3
• Apple Mac Os X 10.0.4
• Apple Mac Os X 10.1

Attack profile CVSS 2.0 · 7.2

Attack vector

Local

Complexity

Low

Authentication

None

Confidentiality

Complete

Integrity

Complete

Availability

Complete

Is it in your code?

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