CVE-2009-4029: GNU Automake

Medium severity, CVSS 4.4. EPSS: 0.5% chance of exploitation in the next 30 days.

The (1) dist or (2) distcheck rules in GNU Automake 1.11.1, 1.10.3, and release branches branch-1-4 through branch-1-9, when producing a distribution tarball for a package that uses Automake, assign insecure permissions (777) to directories in the build tree, which introduces a race condition that allows local users to modify the contents of package files, introduce Trojan horse programs, or conduct other attacks before the build is complete.

Affected products

• GNU Automake: version 1.10.3 only; version 1.11.1 only; version branch only

Published 2009-12-20. Last modified 2026-06-16.