# CVE-2008-3196: Memory corruption in n/a

> Attackers can trigger an out-of-bounds stack access in Yacc via crafted grammar rules, potentially causing crashes or code execution.

- **Severity:** High 7.8 (`AV:N/AC:L/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:** 16 Jul 2008
- **Updated:** 7 Aug 2024
- **Also known as:** DEBIAN-CVE-2008-3196, GHSA-8x9m-rr2c-2g59

## What is CVE-2008-3196?

CVE-2008-3196 is a high-severity memory corruption vulnerability in n/a, published on 16 Jul 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

skeleton.c in yacc does not properly handle reduction of a rule with an empty right hand side, which allows context-dependent attackers to cause an out-of-bounds stack access when the yacc stack pointer points to the end of the stack.

Weakness: CWE-399

## Which versions are affected by CVE-2008-3196?

It affects 1 product.


Products: Yacc Yacc.

## How do I fix CVE-2008-3196?

Apply the vendor's patch.

## Is CVE-2008-3196 being exploited?

There is no known exploitation of CVE-2008-3196 in the wild and no public exploit code.

## Fix prompt for AI coding agents

```text
Check this codebase for CVE-2008-3196 and fix it if it is affected.

What it is: CVE-2008-3196 is a high-severity memory corruption vulnerability in n/a, published on 16 Jul 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-2008-3196 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-2008-3196/ (Markdown: https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2008-3196/index.md)
```

## Sources

- CVE record: https://www.cve.org/CVERecord?id=CVE-2008-3196
- NVD: https://nvd.nist.gov/vuln/detail/CVE-2008-3196
- OSV: https://osv.dev/vulnerability/CVE-2008-3196

---
From sbomify Insights: https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2008-3196/
Summaries are generated and may contain mistakes; the official description above is the record.