# CVE-2008-4582: Security feature bypass in n/a

> Attackers can bypass Same Origin Policy in Firefox on Windows via crafted .url shortcuts, allowing sensitive information disclosure from local or network shares.

- **Severity:** Medium 4.3 (`AV:N/AC:M/Au:N/C:P/I:N/A:N`)
- **Exploited in the wild:** Not known
- **Login needed:** Not needed
- **Attackable:** Over the internet
- **Victim action needed:** A user has to click or open something
- **Fix available:** Yes
- **Published:** 15 Oct 2008
- **Updated:** 7 Aug 2024
- **Also known as:** GHSA-6m7x-v5gc-rvvh

## What is CVE-2008-4582?

CVE-2008-4582 is a medium-severity vulnerability in Canonical Ubuntu Linux, published on 15 Oct 2008. An attacker can exploit it over the internet without logging in, and only if a user opens a file or follows a link.

### Official description

Mozilla Firefox 3.0.1 through 3.0.3, Firefox 2.x before 2.0.0.18, and SeaMonkey 1.x before 1.1.13, when running on Windows, do not properly identify the context of Windows .url shortcut files, which allows user-assisted remote attackers to bypass the Same Origin Policy and obtain sensitive information via an HTML document that is directly accessible through a filesystem, as demonstrated by documents in (1) local folders, (2) Windows share folders, and (3) RAR archives, and as demonstrated by IFRAMEs referencing shortcuts that point to (a) about:cache?device=memory and (b) about:cache?device=disk, a variant of CVE-2008-2810.

Weakness: CWE-264

## Which versions are affected by CVE-2008-4582?

It affects 4 products.


Products: Canonical Ubuntu Linux, Debian Debian Linux, Mozilla Firefox, Mozilla Seamonkey.

## How do I fix CVE-2008-4582?

Upgrade to a fixed version.

## Is CVE-2008-4582 being exploited?

It is not confirmed as exploited in the wild, but public exploit code for CVE-2008-4582 exists.

Public exploit code:

- Mozilla Firefox 3.0.3 - Internet Shortcut Same Origin Policy Violation (exploitdb)

## Other vulnerabilities in Canonical Ubuntu Linux

- [CVE-2020-11651](https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2020-11651/): SaltStack Salt Authentication Bypass (critical 9.8, exploited in the wild)
- [CVE-2020-7247](https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2020-7247/): OpenSMTPD Remote Code Execution (critical 9.8, exploited in the wild)
- [CVE-2019-16928](https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2019-16928/): Exim Out-of-bounds Write (critical 9.8, exploited in the wild)
- [CVE-2018-6789](https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2018-6789/): Exim Buffer Overflow (critical 9.8, exploited in the wild)
- [CVE-2015-2590](https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2015-2590/): Oracle Java SE and Java SE Embedded Remote Code Execution (critical 9.8, exploited in the wild)

## Fix prompt for AI coding agents

```text
Check this codebase for CVE-2008-4582 and fix it if it is affected.

What it is: CVE-2008-4582 is a medium-severity vulnerability in Canonical Ubuntu Linux, published on 15 Oct 2008. An attacker can exploit it over the internet without logging in, and only if a user opens a file or follows a link.
Exploitation: It is not confirmed as exploited in the wild, but public exploit code for CVE-2008-4582 exists.

Affected product: Canonical Ubuntu Linux. 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-2008-4582/ (Markdown: https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2008-4582/index.md)
```

## Sources

- CVE record: https://www.cve.org/CVERecord?id=CVE-2008-4582
- NVD: https://nvd.nist.gov/vuln/detail/CVE-2008-4582
- OSV: https://osv.dev/vulnerability/CVE-2008-4582

---
From sbomify Insights: https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2008-4582/
Summaries are generated and may contain mistakes; the official description above is the record.