# CVE-2008-4405: Missing authorization in n/a

> Guest OS users can cause denial of service and other impacts by improperly writing to xenstore directories due to insufficient access restrictions in Xen.

- **Severity:** High 7.2 (`AV:L/AC:L/Au:N/C:C/I:C/A:C`)
- **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:** Yes
- **Published:** 3 Oct 2008
- **Updated:** 7 Aug 2024
- **Also known as:** GHSA-ffpp-v4vp-9vvh

## What is CVE-2008-4405?

CVE-2008-4405 is a high-severity missing authorization vulnerability in n/a, published on 3 Oct 2008. It can only be exploited from the same machine or local network, with no action from the victim.

### Official description

xend in Xen 3.0.3 does not properly limit the contents of the /local/domain xenstore directory tree, and does not properly restrict a guest VM's write access within this tree, which allows guest OS users to cause a denial of service and possibly have unspecified other impact by writing to (1) console/tty, (2) console/limit, or (3) image/device-model-pid.  NOTE: this issue was originally reported as an issue in libvirt 0.3.3 and xenstore, but CVE is considering the core issue to be related to Xen.

Weakness: CWE-264

## Which versions are affected by CVE-2008-4405?

It affects 1 product.


Products: Citrix Xen.

## How do I fix CVE-2008-4405?

Apply the vendor's patch.

## Is CVE-2008-4405 being exploited?

It is not confirmed as exploited in the wild, but public exploit code for CVE-2008-4405 exists.

Public exploit code:

- Xen 3.3 - XenStore Domain Configuration Data Unsafe Storage (exploitdb)

## Other vulnerabilities in n/a

- [CVE-2011-1898](https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2011-1898/): Privilege escalation in n/a (high 7.4)
- [CVE-2008-5716](https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2008-5716/): Missing authorization in n/a (high 7.2)
- [CVE-2011-1583](https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2011-1583/): Integer overflow in n/a (medium 6.9)
- [CVE-2010-4255](https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2010-4255/): Denial of service in n/a (medium 6.1)
- [CVE-2010-4238](https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2010-4238/): Denial of service in n/a (medium 5.5)

## Fix prompt for AI coding agents

```text
Check this codebase for CVE-2008-4405 and fix it if it is affected.

What it is: CVE-2008-4405 is a high-severity missing authorization vulnerability in n/a, published on 3 Oct 2008. It can only be exploited from the same machine or local network, with no action from the victim.
Exploitation: It is not confirmed as exploited in the wild, but public exploit code for CVE-2008-4405 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-2008-4405/ (Markdown: https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2008-4405/index.md)
```

## Sources

- CVE record: https://www.cve.org/CVERecord?id=CVE-2008-4405
- NVD: https://nvd.nist.gov/vuln/detail/CVE-2008-4405
- OSV: https://osv.dev/vulnerability/CVE-2008-4405

---
From sbomify Insights: https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2008-4405/
Summaries are generated and may contain mistakes; the official description above is the record.