# CVE-2008-3834: Denial of service in n/a

> Remote attackers can cause a denial of service in applications using the D-Bus library by sending a message with a malformed signature.

- **Severity:** Low 2.1 (`AV:L/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:** 7 Oct 2008
- **Updated:** 7 Aug 2024
- **Also known as:** DEBIAN-CVE-2008-3834, DSA-1658-1, GHSA-mwh5-h5c7-v5xw, RHSA-2009:0008

## What is CVE-2008-3834?

CVE-2008-3834 is a low-severity denial of service vulnerability in n/a, published on 7 Oct 2008. An attacker can exploit it over the internet without logging in, with no action from the victim.

### Official description

The dbus_signature_validate function in the D-bus library (libdbus) before 1.2.4 allows remote attackers to cause a denial of service (application abort) via a message containing a malformed signature, which triggers a failed assertion error.

Weakness: CWE-20 (Improper Input Validation)

## Which versions are affected by CVE-2008-3834?

It affects 3 products.


| Package | Ecosystem | Affected | Fixed in |
| --- | --- | --- | --- |
| `dbus` | Red Hat:enterprise_linux:5::client | All versions | 0:1.0.0-7.el5_2.1 |
| `dbus-debuginfo` | Red Hat:enterprise_linux:5::client | All versions | 0:1.0.0-7.el5_2.1 |
| `dbus-x11` | Red Hat:enterprise_linux:5::client | All versions | 0:1.0.0-7.el5_2.1 |
| `dbus` | Red Hat:enterprise_linux:5::client_workstation | All versions | 0:1.0.0-7.el5_2.1 |
| `dbus-debuginfo` | Red Hat:enterprise_linux:5::client_workstation | All versions | 0:1.0.0-7.el5_2.1 |
| `dbus-devel` | Red Hat:enterprise_linux:5::client_workstation | All versions | 0:1.0.0-7.el5_2.1 |
| `dbus` | Red Hat:enterprise_linux:5::server | All versions | 0:1.0.0-7.el5_2.1 |
| `dbus-debuginfo` | Red Hat:enterprise_linux:5::server | All versions | 0:1.0.0-7.el5_2.1 |
| `dbus-devel` | Red Hat:enterprise_linux:5::server | All versions | 0:1.0.0-7.el5_2.1 |
| `dbus-x11` | Red Hat:enterprise_linux:5::server | All versions | 0:1.0.0-7.el5_2.1 |

Products: Freedesktop Dbus, Freedesktop Dbus1.0, Freedesktop Dbus1.1.0.

## How do I fix CVE-2008-3834?

Upgrade to a fixed version.

## Is CVE-2008-3834 being exploited?

It is not confirmed as exploited in the wild, but public exploit code for CVE-2008-3834 exists.

Public exploit code:

- D-Bus Daemon < 1.2.4 - 'libdbus' Denial of Service (exploitdb)

## Other vulnerabilities in n/a

- [CVE-2020-35512](https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2020-35512/): Use after free in D-Bus Development branch (high 7.8)
- [CVE-2008-4311](https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2008-4311/): Security feature bypass in n/a (medium 4.6)
- [CVE-2009-1189](https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2009-1189/): Other in n/a (low 3.6)
- [CVE-2011-2533](https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2011-2533/): Path traversal in n/a (low 3.3)
- [CVE-2014-3637](https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2014-3637/): Denial of service in n/a (low 2.1)

## Fix prompt for AI coding agents

```text
Check this codebase for CVE-2008-3834 and fix it if it is affected.

What it is: CVE-2008-3834 is a low-severity denial of service vulnerability in n/a, published on 7 Oct 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-2008-3834 exists.

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-2008-3834/ (Markdown: https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2008-3834/index.md)
```

## Sources

- CVE record: https://www.cve.org/CVERecord?id=CVE-2008-3834
- NVD: https://nvd.nist.gov/vuln/detail/CVE-2008-3834
- OSV: https://osv.dev/vulnerability/CVE-2008-3834

---
From sbomify Insights: https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2008-3834/
Summaries are generated and may contain mistakes; the official description above is the record.