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CVE-2008-4551

5.0 · MEDIUM

strongSwan 4.2.6 and earlier allows remote attackers to cause a denial of service (daemon crash) via an IKE_SA_INIT message with a large number of NULL values in a Key Exchange payload, which trigg…

Published Oct 14, 2008strongswanCWE-399EPSS 2.52%

Overview

CVE-2008-4551 is a medium-severity vulnerability affecting strongswan strongswan. It was published on October 14, 2008 and has a CVSS 2.0 base score of 5.0 (MEDIUM).

This vulnerability has a CVSS 2.0 base score of 5.0, rated MEDIUM. It can be exploited remotely over the network. No authentication or special privileges are required for exploitation.

Technical description

strongSwan 4.2.6 and earlier allows remote attackers to cause a denial of service (daemon crash) via an IKE_SA_INIT message with a large number of NULL values in a Key Exchange payload, which triggers a NULL pointer dereference for the return value of the mpz_export function in the GNU Multiprecision Library (GMP).

Remediation

Check the references section for vendor advisories and patches from strongswan. Update strongswan to the latest patched version. If immediate patching is not possible, review the CVSS vector to understand the attack surface and apply compensating controls such as network segmentation or access restrictions.

Affected products

VendorProductVersionsStatus
strongswanstrongswan0Affected

References

Refdownload.strongswan.org/CHANGES4.txtReflabs.mudynamics.com/advisories/MU-200809-01.txtRefsecunia.com/advisories/31963Refwww.securityfocus.com/bid/31291Refwww.securitytracker.com/id?1020903Refwww.vupen.com/english/advisories/2008/2660Refdownload.strongswan.org/CHANGES4.txtReflabs.mudynamics.com/advisories/MU-200809-01.txtRefsecunia.com/advisories/31963Refwww.securityfocus.com/bid/31291

How CyberStrike helps

Frequently asked questions

What is CVE-2008-4551?

CVE-2008-4551 is a medium-severity vulnerability affecting strongswan strongswan. It was published on October 14, 2008 and has a CVSS 2.0 base score of 5.0 (MEDIUM).

How severe is CVE-2008-4551?

This vulnerability has a CVSS 2.0 base score of 5.0, rated MEDIUM. It can be exploited remotely over the network. No authentication or special privileges are required for exploitation.

How do I fix or remediate CVE-2008-4551?

Check the references section for vendor advisories and patches from strongswan. Update strongswan to the latest patched version. If immediate patching is not possible, review the CVSS vector to understand the attack surface and apply compensating controls such as network segmentation or access restrictions.

How can CyberStrike help with CVE-2008-4551?

CyberStrike is an open-source, AI-augmented pentesting engine. Rather than flag a version number, it tests whether an issue like CVE-2008-4551 is actually reachable in your own applications and APIs, then verifies each finding before reporting it. That tells you if the weakness is a real, exploitable risk in your environment or a false positive you can safely deprioritize.

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