How severe is CVE-2009-4611?

CVE-2009-4611 has a CVSS score of 7.3/10, rated HIGH. Immediate patching is strongly recommended.

Which packages are affected by CVE-2009-4611?

CVE-2009-4611 affects the following packages: org.mortbay.jetty:jetty (Maven), org.mortbay.jetty:jetty (Maven). Ecosystems affected: Maven.

How do I fix CVE-2009-4611?

Update org.mortbay.jetty:jetty to 6.1.23 or later, then make sure no transitive (indirect) dependency still pins the vulnerable range — O3 confirms CVE-2009-4611 is resolved across your whole dependency graph.

How do I detect CVE-2009-4611 in my Maven dependencies?

Scan your dependency tree (package-lock.json, pnpm-lock.yaml, requirements.txt, go.sum, etc.) for org.mortbay.jetty:jetty, including transitive dependencies — a direct dependency you never call can still pull in a vulnerable version.

How do I mitigate CVE-2009-4611 if there is no patch (or I can't update yet)?

If you can't upgrade right away: gate or disable the affected feature, validate untrusted input at the boundary, and avoid passing attacker-controlled data into the vulnerable path. O3's runtime protection blocks exploitation in production as an interim safeguard until the upgrade lands.

Is CVE-2009-4611 actively exploited in the wild?

Yes. There are 2 known exploit references for CVE-2009-4611, including 2 in-the-wild exploitations observed on GitHub and other sources. Treat this as actively exploitable and prioritize patching immediately. All exploit code should only be run in an isolated sandbox environment for research or authorized testing — never against production systems without explicit written authorization.

What is the EPSS score for CVE-2009-4611?

CVE-2009-4611 has an EPSS (Exploit Prediction Scoring System) score of 3.2%, placing it in the 88th percentile of all CVEs. EPSS is maintained by FIRST.org and estimates the probability that a vulnerability will be exploited in the wild within the next 30 days. This score indicates relatively lower exploitation probability, though the CVSS severity should still guide your patching priority.

What type of vulnerability is CVE-2009-4611?

CVE-2009-4611 is classified as Improper Input Validation (CWE-20). This weakness type describe the underlying flaw category, which helps determine the potential impact and the right class of mitigation.

When was CVE-2009-4611 published, and has it been updated?

CVE-2009-4611 was published on May 2, 2022 and was last updated on November 8, 2023. Advisory data evolves as severity scores, affected ranges, and exploit intelligence are revised — always check the latest version of the advisory before acting.

☕

☕ Maven

Not in CISA KEV

HIGH severity

CVE-2009-4611 — jetty

HIGH

CVE-2009-4611 is a high-severity (CVSS 7.3) Improper Input Validation vulnerability in org.mortbay.jetty:jetty. 2 public exploit or proof-of-concept references are indexed, so weaponization risk is real. A fix is available for org.mortbay.jetty:jetty — see the affected versions and patch details below.

Improper input validation in Mort Bay Jetty

Published

May 2, 2022

Updated

Nov 8, 2023

Affected

2 pkgs

Patched

2 / 2

Exploits

2 known

Exploitation data as of Nov 6, 2026 · OSV.dev, NVD, FIRST.org (EPSS)

EPSS Exploitation Probability

via FIRST.org ↗

3.2%probability of exploitation in next 30 days

Lower Risk0.00%

Lower risk than most CVEs88th percentile — riskier than 88% of all scored CVEsHighest risk

Probability of exploitation in the next 30 days, from FIRST.org EPSS.

How urgent is this, really

Where this sits among everything scored

Real-World Exposure

2 pkgs affected

☕org.mortbay.jetty:jetty☕org.mortbay.jetty:jetty

Real-time download stats are indexed for npm and PyPI packages. This vulnerability affects Maven packages — download data is not available via public APIs for these ecosystems.

Description

Mort Bay Jetty 6.x through 6.1.22 and 7.0.0 writes backtrace data without sanitizing non-printable characters, which might allow remote attackers to modify a window's title, or possibly execute arbitrary commands or overwrite files, via an HTTP request containing an escape sequence for a terminal emulator, related to (1) a string value in the Age parameter to the default URI for the Cookie Dump Servlet in test-jetty-webapp/src/main/java/com/acme/CookieDump.java under cookie/, (2) an alphabetic value in the A parameter to jsp/expr.jsp, or (3) an alphabetic value in the Content-Length HTTP header to an arbitrary application.

Affected Packages

2 total 2 fixed

Ecosystem	Package	Vulnerable range	Fix
☕Maven	`org.mortbay.jetty:jetty`	≥ 6.0.0&&< 6.1.23	6.1.23`org.mortbay.jetty:jetty:6.1.23`
☕Maven	`org.mortbay.jetty:jetty`	≥ 7.0.0&&< 7.0.2	7.0.2`org.mortbay.jetty:jetty:7.0.2`

Affected Products

1 product · 81 configurations

Application

jettymortbay

22 versions

6.0.06.0.16.0.26.1.06.1.16.1.26.1.36.1.46.1.56.1.66.1.76.1.8

Exploits & PoCs

Research use only. For defensive security, authorized penetration testing, and academic research only. Never execute exploit code against systems without explicit written authorization.

Mort Bay Jetty 6.x through 6.1.22 and 7.0.0 writes backtrace data withou…

ush.itNVDNov 2019

Report on ush.it

ush.itNVDNov 2019

Detection & mitigation playbook

Open-source dependency

Detect
Scan your dependency tree (package-lock.json, pnpm-lock.yaml, requirements.txt, go.sum, etc.) for org.mortbay.jetty:jetty, including transitive dependencies — a direct dependency you never call can still pull in a vulnerable version.
Fix
Update org.mortbay.jetty:jetty to 6.1.23 or later, then make sure no transitive (indirect) dependency still pins the vulnerable range — O3 confirms CVE-2009-4611 is resolved across your whole dependency graph.
Workarounds
If you can't upgrade right away: gate or disable the affected feature, validate untrusted input at the boundary, and avoid passing attacker-controlled data into the vulnerable path. O3's runtime protection blocks exploitation in production as an interim safeguard until the upgrade lands.

Frequently Asked Questions

O3 Security · Impact-Aware SCA

Is CVE-2009-4611 in your dependencies?

Find it across Maven, including transitive dependencies.

Scan my dependencies How O3 SCA works

CVSS Score

7.3/10CVSS v3 base

Vector breakdown

Attack Vector

Network

Attack Complexity

Low

Privileges Required

None

User Interaction

None

Scope

Unchanged

Confidentiality

Low

Integrity

Low

Availability

Low

Raw vector

CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:L/PR:N/UI:N/S:U/C:L/I:L/A:L

CWE Classification

CWE-20Improper Input Validation

Weaponization

No Nuclei template or Metasploit module yet. 2 public proof-of-concept references are listed on this page.

OpenSSF Scorecard

Package health score

jetty.project

7.9/10

Code-Review9/10

Maintained10/10

Branch-Protection4/10

Assessed Nov 2, 2026

Timeline

First exploit

Nov 21, 2019

Disclosed

May 2, 2022

Last updated

Nov 8, 2023

Identifiers

CVE-2009-4611

References

Advisorynvd.nist.gov · CVE 2009 4611 Webfossies.org · VERSION.txt Webeclipse.org · about Webush.it · jetty adv.txt Webush.it · adv.txt Packagegithub.com · jetty.project

Related vulnerabilities

This CVE is high severity; 1 of 8 other CVEs affecting jetty is rated as high or higher (top: high).

CVE-2009-1523CVE-2007-6672CVE-2007-5613CVE-2007-5615CVE-2005-3747CVE-2007-5614CVE-2006-2759CVE-2006-2758

Provenance

Sources

OSV.devNVDFIRST.org (EPSS)

Last verifiedNov 8, 2023