# CVE-2008-3914: Denial of service in n/a

> File descriptor leaks in ClamAV can lead to resource exhaustion and denial of service, affecting systems using the library for scanning.

- **Severity:** Critical 10.0 (`AV:N/AC:L/Au:N/C:C/I:C/A:C`)
- **Exploited in the wild:** Not known
- **Login needed:** Not needed
- **Attackable:** Over the internet
- **Victim action needed:** Not needed
- **Fix available:** Yes
- **Published:** 9 Sep 2008
- **Updated:** 7 Aug 2024
- **Also known as:** DEBIAN-CVE-2008-3914, GHSA-3qxg-frxh-f5j5

## What is CVE-2008-3914?

CVE-2008-3914 is a critical denial of service vulnerability in Clamav Clamav, published on 9 Sep 2008. An attacker can exploit it over the internet without logging in, with no action from the victim.

### Official description

Multiple unspecified vulnerabilities in ClamAV before 0.94 have unknown impact and attack vectors related to file descriptor leaks on the "error path" in (1) libclamav/others.c and (2) libclamav/sis.c.

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

## Which versions are affected by CVE-2008-3914?

It affects 1 product.


Products: Clamav Clamav.

## How do I fix CVE-2008-3914?

Upgrade to a fixed version.

## Is CVE-2008-3914 being exploited?

There is no known exploitation of CVE-2008-3914 in the wild and no public exploit code.

## Other vulnerabilities in Clamav Clamav

- [CVE-2010-0098](https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2010-0098/): Security feature bypass in n/a (critical 10.0)
- [CVE-2009-1372](https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2009-1372/): Memory corruption in n/a (critical 10.0)
- [CVE-2008-0728](https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2008-0728/): Memory corruption in n/a (critical 10.0)
- [CVE-2006-1615](https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2006-1615/): Other in n/a (critical 10.0)
- [CVE-2025-20260](https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2025-20260/): ClamAV PDF Scanning Buffer Overflow Vulnerability (critical 9.8)

## Fix prompt for AI coding agents

```text
Check this codebase for CVE-2008-3914 and fix it if it is affected.

What it is: CVE-2008-3914 is a critical denial of service vulnerability in Clamav Clamav, published on 9 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-2008-3914 in the wild and no public exploit code.

Affected product: Clamav Clamav. 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-2008-3914/ (Markdown: https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2008-3914/index.md)
```

## Sources

- CVE record: https://www.cve.org/CVERecord?id=CVE-2008-3914
- NVD: https://nvd.nist.gov/vuln/detail/CVE-2008-3914
- OSV: https://osv.dev/vulnerability/CVE-2008-3914

---
From sbomify Insights: https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2008-3914/
Summaries are generated and may contain mistakes; the official description above is the record.