# CVE-2008-3893: Information disclosure in n/a

> Local attackers can read pre-boot authentication passwords from BIOS keyboard buffers in Windows Vista, exposing sensitive credentials.

- **Severity:** Medium 5.5 (`CVSS:3.1/AV:L/AC:L/PR:L/UI:N/S:U/C:H/I:N/A:N`)
- **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:** No
- **Published:** 3 Sep 2008
- **Updated:** 3 Apr 2025
- **Also known as:** GHSA-7wvg-9w7x-48xm

## What is CVE-2008-3893?

CVE-2008-3893 is a medium-severity vulnerability in Microsoft Windows Vista, published on 3 Sep 2008. It can only be exploited from the same machine or local network, with no action from the victim.

### Official description

Microsoft Bitlocker in Windows Vista before SP1 stores pre-boot authentication passwords in the BIOS Keyboard buffer and does not clear this buffer during boot, which allows local users to obtain sensitive information by reading the physical memory locations associated with this buffer.

Weakness: CWE-200 (Exposure of Sensitive Information to an Unauthorized Actor)

## Which versions are affected by CVE-2008-3893?

It affects 1 product.


Products: Microsoft Windows Vista.

## How do I fix CVE-2008-3893?

No fix has been published for CVE-2008-3893 yet. Limit exposure of the affected software until one is available.

## Is CVE-2008-3893 being exploited?

There is no known exploitation of CVE-2008-3893 in the wild and no public exploit code.

## Other vulnerabilities in Microsoft Windows Vista

- [CVE-2007-5351](https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2007-5351/): Code injection in n/a (critical 10.0)
- [CVE-2010-3145](https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2010-3145/): Privilege escalation in n/a (critical 9.3)
- [CVE-2008-0951](https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2008-0951/): Security feature bypass in n/a (critical 9.3)
- [CVE-2007-1658](https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2007-1658/): Path traversal in n/a (critical 9.3)
- [CVE-2007-1534](https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2007-1534/): Misconfiguration in n/a (critical 9.3)

## Fix prompt for AI coding agents

```text
Check this codebase for CVE-2008-3893 and fix it if it is affected.

What it is: CVE-2008-3893 is a medium-severity vulnerability in Microsoft Windows Vista, published on 3 Sep 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-2008-3893 in the wild and no public exploit code.

Affected product: Microsoft Windows Vista. 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-2008-3893/ (Markdown: https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2008-3893/index.md)
```

## Sources

- CVE record: https://www.cve.org/CVERecord?id=CVE-2008-3893
- NVD: https://nvd.nist.gov/vuln/detail/CVE-2008-3893
- OSV: https://osv.dev/vulnerability/CVE-2008-3893

---
From sbomify Insights: https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2008-3893/
Summaries are generated and may contain mistakes; the official description above is the record.