# CVE-2008-1685: Integer overflow in n/a

> GCC compiler optimization may remove bounds checks, potentially enabling buffer overflows in compiled software, affecting developers and security auditors.

- **Severity:** Medium 6.8 (`AV:N/AC:M/Au:N/C:P/I:P/A:P`)
- **Exploited in the wild:** Not known
- **Login needed:** Not needed
- **Attackable:** Not stated
- **Victim action needed:** Not needed
- **Fix available:** No
- **Published:** 6 Apr 2008
- **Updated:** 7 Aug 2024
- **Also known as:** GHSA-6pf5-463c-qv74

## What is CVE-2008-1685?

CVE-2008-1685 is a medium-severity vulnerability in n/a, published on 6 Apr 2008. 

### Official description

gcc 4.2.0 through 4.3.0 in GNU Compiler Collection, when casts are not used, considers the sum of a pointer and an int to be greater than or equal to the pointer, which might lead to removal of length testing code that was intended as a protection mechanism against integer overflow and buffer overflow attacks, and provide no diagnostic message about this removal. NOTE: the vendor has determined that this compiler behavior is correct according to section 6.5.6 of the C99 standard (aka ISO/IEC 9899:1999)

Weakness: CWE-189, CWE-119 (Improper Restriction of Operations within the Bounds of a Memory Buffer)

## Which versions are affected by CVE-2008-1685?

It affects 1 product.


Products: Gnu Gcc.

## How do I fix CVE-2008-1685?

No fix has been published for CVE-2008-1685 yet. Limit exposure of the affected software until one is available.

## Is CVE-2008-1685 being exploited?

There is no known exploitation of CVE-2008-1685 in the wild and no public exploit code.

## Other vulnerabilities in n/a

- [CVE-2018-12886](https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2018-12886/): Security feature bypass in n/a (high 8.1)
- [CVE-2002-2439](https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2002-2439/): Integer overflow in the new[] operator in gcc before 4.8.0 allows attackers to have unspecified impacts. (high 7.8)
- [CVE-2019-15847](https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2019-15847/): Weak cryptography in n/a (high 7.5)
- [CVE-2008-1367](https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2008-1367/): Memory corruption in n/a (high 7.5)
- [CVE-2021-46195](https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2021-46195/): Denial of service in n/a (medium 5.5)

## Fix prompt for AI coding agents

```text
Check this codebase for CVE-2008-1685 and fix it if it is affected.

What it is: CVE-2008-1685 is a medium-severity vulnerability in n/a, published on 6 Apr 2008. 
Exploitation: There is no known exploitation of CVE-2008-1685 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-2008-1685/ (Markdown: https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2008-1685/index.md)
```

## Sources

- CVE record: https://www.cve.org/CVERecord?id=CVE-2008-1685
- NVD: https://nvd.nist.gov/vuln/detail/CVE-2008-1685
- OSV: https://osv.dev/vulnerability/CVE-2008-1685

---
From sbomify Insights: https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2008-1685/
Summaries are generated and may contain mistakes; the official description above is the record.