# CVE-2008-0887: Denial of service in n/a

> A denial of service in gnome-screensaver allows physically proximate attackers to bypass the lock screen during network outages if remote authentication is enabled.

- **Severity:** Medium 4.7 (`AV:L/AC:M/Au:N/C:N/I:N/A:C`)
- **Exploited in the wild:** Not known
- **Login needed:** Not needed
- **Attackable:** Local or same network only
- **Victim action needed:** A user has to click or open something
- **Fix available:** Yes
- **Published:** 6 Apr 2008
- **Updated:** 7 Aug 2024
- **Also known as:** CVE-2008-1683, DEBIAN-CVE-2008-0887, GHSA-x3jq-r6gp-49qf, RHSA-2008:0197, RHSA-2008:0218

## What is CVE-2008-0887?

CVE-2008-0887 is a medium-severity denial of service vulnerability in n/a, published on 6 Apr 2008. It can only be exploited from the same machine or local network, and only if a user opens a file or follows a link.

### Official description

gnome-screensaver before 2.22.1, when a remote authentication server is enabled, crashes upon an unlock attempt during a network outage, which allows physically proximate attackers to gain access to the locked session, a related issue to CVE-2007-1859.

## Which versions are affected by CVE-2008-0887?

It affects 1 product.


| Package | Ecosystem | Affected | Fixed in |
| --- | --- | --- | --- |
| `gnome-screensaver` | Red Hat:enterprise_linux:5::client | All versions | 0:2.16.1-5.el5_1.1 |
| `gnome-screensaver` | Red Hat:enterprise_linux:5::client | All versions | 0:2.16.1-8.el5 |
| `gnome-screensaver-debuginfo` | Red Hat:enterprise_linux:5::client | All versions | 0:2.16.1-5.el5_1.1 |
| `gnome-screensaver-debuginfo` | Red Hat:enterprise_linux:5::client | All versions | 0:2.16.1-8.el5 |
| `gnome-screensaver` | Red Hat:enterprise_linux:5::server | All versions | 0:2.16.1-5.el5_1.1 |
| `gnome-screensaver` | Red Hat:enterprise_linux:5::server | All versions | 0:2.16.1-8.el5 |
| `gnome-screensaver-debuginfo` | Red Hat:enterprise_linux:5::server | All versions | 0:2.16.1-5.el5_1.1 |
| `gnome-screensaver-debuginfo` | Red Hat:enterprise_linux:5::server | All versions | 0:2.16.1-8.el5 |

Products: Gnome Screensaver.

## How do I fix CVE-2008-0887?

Upgrade to a fixed version.

## Is CVE-2008-0887 being exploited?

There is no known exploitation of CVE-2008-0887 in the wild and no public exploit code.

## Other vulnerabilities in n/a

- [CVE-2009-4641](https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2009-4641/): Security feature bypass in n/a (high 7.2)
- [CVE-2009-4642](https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2009-4642/): Security feature bypass in n/a (high 7.2)
- [CVE-2010-0414](https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2010-0414/): Security feature bypass in n/a (high 7.2)
- [CVE-2010-0285](https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2010-0285/): Security feature bypass in n/a (medium 5.6)
- [CVE-2010-0422](https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2010-0422/): Auth bypass in n/a (medium 4.0)

## Fix prompt for AI coding agents

```text
Check this codebase for CVE-2008-0887 and fix it if it is affected.

What it is: CVE-2008-0887 is a medium-severity denial of service vulnerability in n/a, published on 6 Apr 2008. It can only be exploited from the same machine or local network, and only if a user opens a file or follows a link.
Exploitation: There is no known exploitation of CVE-2008-0887 in the wild and no public exploit code.

Affected product: n/a. No package-level version data is available, so check the vendor advisory linked from the reference page.

Task:
1. Search the dependency manifests and lockfiles (for example package.json, package-lock.json, requirements.txt, poetry.lock, uv.lock, pom.xml, build.gradle, go.mod, Cargo.lock, Gemfile.lock) and any Dockerfiles for the affected packages, including transitive dependencies.
2. If an affected version is in use, upgrade it to the fixed version for its release line with the project's package manager, so the lockfile is regenerated. Prefer the smallest upgrade that fixes it.
3. If there is no fix, or the upgrade would break the build, do not guess: explain the risk and the safest workaround instead.
4. Run the tests and summarise what changed and why.
5. If nothing in the project is affected, say so and change nothing.

Reference: https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2008-0887/ (Markdown: https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2008-0887/index.md)
```

## Sources

- CVE record: https://www.cve.org/CVERecord?id=CVE-2008-0887
- NVD: https://nvd.nist.gov/vuln/detail/CVE-2008-0887
- OSV: https://osv.dev/vulnerability/CVE-2008-0887

---
From sbomify Insights: https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2008-0887/
Summaries are generated and may contain mistakes; the official description above is the record.