# CVE-2008-2382: Denial of service in n/a

> Remote attackers can cause a denial of service via an infinite loop in the VNC server protocol handler.

- **Severity:** Medium 5.0 (`AV:N/AC:L/Au:N/C:N/I:N/A:P`)
- **Exploited in the wild:** Not known
- **Login needed:** Not needed
- **Attackable:** Over the internet
- **Victim action needed:** Not needed
- **Fix available:** Yes
- **Published:** 24 Dec 2008
- **Updated:** 7 Aug 2024
- **Also known as:** DEBIAN-CVE-2008-2382, GHSA-gr5p-5pp4-jfr7

## What is CVE-2008-2382?

CVE-2008-2382 is a medium-severity denial of service vulnerability in Qemu Qemu, published on 24 Dec 2008. An attacker can exploit it over the internet without logging in, with no action from the victim.

### Official description

The protocol_client_msg function in vnc.c in the VNC server in (1) Qemu 0.9.1 and earlier and (2) KVM kvm-79 and earlier allows remote attackers to cause a denial of service (infinite loop) via a certain message.

Weakness: CWE-399

## Which versions are affected by CVE-2008-2382?

It affects 2 products.


Products: Kvm Qumranet Kvm, Qemu Qemu.

## How do I fix CVE-2008-2382?

Upgrade to a fixed version.

## Is CVE-2008-2382 being exploited?

It is not confirmed as exploited in the wild, but public exploit code for CVE-2008-2382 exists.

Public exploit code:

- QEMU 0.9 / KVM 36/79 - VNC Server Remote Denial of Service (exploitdb)

## Other vulnerabilities in Qemu Qemu

- [CVE-2010-0419](https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2010-0419/): Privilege escalation in n/a (medium 4.4)
- [CVE-2010-0306](https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2010-0306/): Privilege escalation in n/a (medium 4.1)

## Fix prompt for AI coding agents

```text
Check this codebase for CVE-2008-2382 and fix it if it is affected.

What it is: CVE-2008-2382 is a medium-severity denial of service vulnerability in Qemu Qemu, published on 24 Dec 2008. An attacker can exploit it over the internet without logging in, with no action from the victim.
Exploitation: It is not confirmed as exploited in the wild, but public exploit code for CVE-2008-2382 exists.

Affected product: Qemu Qemu. 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-2008-2382/ (Markdown: https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2008-2382/index.md)
```

## Sources

- CVE record: https://www.cve.org/CVERecord?id=CVE-2008-2382
- NVD: https://nvd.nist.gov/vuln/detail/CVE-2008-2382
- OSV: https://osv.dev/vulnerability/CVE-2008-2382

---
From sbomify Insights: https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2008-2382/
Summaries are generated and may contain mistakes; the official description above is the record.