# CVE-2008-3891: Auth bypass in n/a

> Remote attackers can impersonate users in Google Apps SSO by sending authentication responses missing request identifiers and recipient fields.

- **Severity:** High 7.5 (`AV:N/AC:L/Au:N/C:P/I:P/A:P`)
- **Exploited in the wild:** Not known
- **Login needed:** Not needed
- **Attackable:** Over the internet
- **Victim action needed:** Not needed
- **Fix available:** No
- **Published:** 3 Sep 2008
- **Updated:** 16 Sep 2024
- **Also known as:** GHSA-6qx9-873m-3jxj

## What is CVE-2008-3891?

CVE-2008-3891 is a high-severity authentication bypass vulnerability in n/a, published on 3 Sep 2008. An attacker can exploit it over the internet without logging in, with no action from the victim.

### Official description

The SAML Single Sign-On (SSO) Service for Google Apps allows remote service providers to impersonate users at arbitrary service providers via vectors related to authentication responses that lack a request identifier and recipient field.

Weakness: CWE-287 (Improper Authentication)

## Which versions are affected by CVE-2008-3891?

It affects 1 product.


Products: Google Google Apps.

## How do I fix CVE-2008-3891?

No fix has been published for CVE-2008-3891 yet. Limit exposure of the affected software until one is available.

## Is CVE-2008-3891 being exploited?

There is no known exploitation of CVE-2008-3891 in the wild and no public exploit code.

## Fix prompt for AI coding agents

```text
Check this codebase for CVE-2008-3891 and fix it if it is affected.

What it is: CVE-2008-3891 is a high-severity authentication bypass vulnerability in n/a, published on 3 Sep 2008. An attacker can exploit it over the internet without logging in, with no action from the victim.
Exploitation: There is no known exploitation of CVE-2008-3891 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-2008-3891/ (Markdown: https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2008-3891/index.md)
```

## Sources

- CVE record: https://www.cve.org/CVERecord?id=CVE-2008-3891
- NVD: https://nvd.nist.gov/vuln/detail/CVE-2008-3891
- OSV: https://osv.dev/vulnerability/CVE-2008-3891

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From sbomify Insights: https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2008-3891/
Summaries are generated and may contain mistakes; the official description above is the record.