# CVE-2008-4278: Information disclosure in n/a

> Physically proximate attackers can steal user passwords displayed in cleartext due to special character handling in VMware VirtualCenter.

- **Severity:** Low 2.1 (`AV:L/AC:L/Au:N/C:P/I:N/A:N`)
- **Exploited in the wild:** Not known
- **Login needed:** Not needed
- **Attackable:** Local or same network only
- **Victim action needed:** Not needed
- **Fix available:** No
- **Published:** 6 Oct 2008
- **Updated:** 7 Aug 2024
- **Also known as:** GHSA-cg7x-wpjc-28wr

## What is CVE-2008-4278?

CVE-2008-4278 is a low-severity vulnerability in n/a, published on 6 Oct 2008. It can only be exploited from the same machine or local network, with no action from the victim.

### Official description

VMware VirtualCenter 2.5 before Update 3 build 119838 on Windows displays a user's password in cleartext when the password contains unspecified special characters, which allows physically proximate attackers to steal the password.

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

## Which versions are affected by CVE-2008-4278?

It affects 1 product.


Products: Vmware Virtualcenter.

## How do I fix CVE-2008-4278?

No fix has been published for CVE-2008-4278 yet. Limit exposure of the affected software until one is available.

## Is CVE-2008-4278 being exploited?

There is no known exploitation of CVE-2008-4278 in the wild and no public exploit code.

## Other vulnerabilities in n/a

- [CVE-2008-3514](https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2008-3514/): Information disclosure in n/a (medium 5.0)
- [CVE-2006-5990](https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2006-5990/): Security feature bypass in n/a (medium 4.0)

## Fix prompt for AI coding agents

```text
Check this codebase for CVE-2008-4278 and fix it if it is affected.

What it is: CVE-2008-4278 is a low-severity vulnerability in n/a, published on 6 Oct 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-2008-4278 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-2008-4278/ (Markdown: https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2008-4278/index.md)
```

## Sources

- CVE record: https://www.cve.org/CVERecord?id=CVE-2008-4278
- NVD: https://nvd.nist.gov/vuln/detail/CVE-2008-4278
- OSV: https://osv.dev/vulnerability/CVE-2008-4278

---
From sbomify Insights: https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2008-4278/
Summaries are generated and may contain mistakes; the official description above is the record.