# CVE-2008-2137: Denial of service in n/a

> Local attackers can cause a system panic via specific mmap calls due to missing span checks in the Linux kernel SPARC architecture.

- **Severity:** Medium 4.4 (`AV:L/AC:M/Au:N/C:P/I:P/A:P`)
- **Exploited in the wild:** Not known
- **Login needed:** Any signed-in user
- **Attackable:** Local or same network only
- **Victim action needed:** Not needed
- **Fix available:** Yes
- **Published:** 29 May 2008
- **Updated:** 7 Aug 2024
- **Also known as:** GHSA-v3xm-x5gg-cv82

## What is CVE-2008-2137?

CVE-2008-2137 is a medium-severity denial of service vulnerability in Debian Debian Linux, published on 29 May 2008. It can only be exploited from the same machine or local network, with no action from the victim.

### Official description

The (1) sparc_mmap_check function in arch/sparc/kernel/sys_sparc.c and the (2) sparc64_mmap_check function in arch/sparc64/kernel/sys_sparc.c, in the Linux kernel 2.4 before 2.4.36.5 and 2.6 before 2.6.25.3, omit some virtual-address range (aka span) checks when the mmap MAP_FIXED bit is not set, which allows local users to cause a denial of service (panic) via unspecified mmap calls.

Weakness: CWE-264

## Which versions are affected by CVE-2008-2137?

It affects 2 products.


Products: Debian Debian Linux, Linux kernel.

## How do I fix CVE-2008-2137?

Upgrade to a fixed version.

## Is CVE-2008-2137 being exploited?

There is no known exploitation of CVE-2008-2137 in the wild and no public exploit code.

## Other vulnerabilities in Debian Debian Linux

- [CVE-2015-3306](https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2015-3306/): ProFTPD Improper Access Control (critical 10.0, exploited in the wild)
- [CVE-2025-49113](https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2025-49113/): RoundCube Webmail Deserialization of Untrusted Data (critical 9.9, exploited in the wild)
- [CVE-2026-24061](https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2026-24061/): GNU InetUtils Argument Injection (critical 9.8, exploited in the wild)
- [CVE-2025-39682](https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2025-39682/): Linux Kernel Improper Check for Unusual or Exceptional Conditions (critical 9.8, exploited in the wild)
- [CVE-2024-9680](https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2024-9680/): Mozilla Firefox Use-After-Free (critical 9.8, exploited in the wild)

## Fix prompt for AI coding agents

```text
Check this codebase for CVE-2008-2137 and fix it if it is affected.

What it is: CVE-2008-2137 is a medium-severity denial of service vulnerability in Debian Debian Linux, published on 29 May 2008. It can only be exploited from the same machine or local network, with no action from the victim.
Exploitation: There is no known exploitation of CVE-2008-2137 in the wild and no public exploit code.

Affected product: Debian Debian Linux. 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-2008-2137/ (Markdown: https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2008-2137/index.md)
```

## Sources

- CVE record: https://www.cve.org/CVERecord?id=CVE-2008-2137
- NVD: https://nvd.nist.gov/vuln/detail/CVE-2008-2137
- OSV: https://osv.dev/vulnerability/CVE-2008-2137

---
From sbomify Insights: https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2008-2137/
Summaries are generated and may contain mistakes; the official description above is the record.