# CVE-2008-4999: Denial of service in n/a

> Remote attackers can crash Nortel UNIStim IP Phones via oversized ping packets, though reproducibility is disputed.

- **Severity:** High 7.8 (`AV:N/AC:L/Au:N/C:N/I:N/A:C`)
- **Exploited in the wild:** Not known
- **Login needed:** Not needed
- **Attackable:** Over the internet
- **Victim action needed:** Not needed
- **Fix available:** No
- **Published:** 7 Nov 2008
- **Updated:** 7 Aug 2024
- **Also known as:** GHSA-2w53-4977-5w7j

## What is CVE-2008-4999?

CVE-2008-4999 is a high-severity denial of service vulnerability in n/a, published on 7 Nov 2008. An attacker can exploit it over the internet without logging in, with no action from the victim.

### Official description

Nortel Networks UNIStim IP Phone 0604DAS allows remote attackers to cause a denial of service (crash) via a long ping packet ("ping of death").  NOTE: this issue could not be reproduced by a third party, who tested it on 0604DAD. In addition, the original researcher was not able to reliably reproduce the issue.

Weakness: CWE-20 (Improper Input Validation)

## Which versions are affected by CVE-2008-4999?

It affects 1 product.


Products: Nortel Unistim Ip Phone.

## How do I fix CVE-2008-4999?

No fix has been published for CVE-2008-4999 yet. Limit exposure of the affected software until one is available.

## Is CVE-2008-4999 being exploited?

It is not confirmed as exploited in the wild, but public exploit code for CVE-2008-4999 exists.

Public exploit code:

- Nortel UNIStim IP Phone - Remote Ping Denial of Service (exploitdb)

## Fix prompt for AI coding agents

```text
Check this codebase for CVE-2008-4999 and fix it if it is affected.

What it is: CVE-2008-4999 is a high-severity denial of service vulnerability in n/a, published on 7 Nov 2008. An attacker can exploit it over the internet without logging in, with no action from the victim.
Exploitation: It is not confirmed as exploited in the wild, but public exploit code for CVE-2008-4999 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-2008-4999/ (Markdown: https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2008-4999/index.md)
```

## Sources

- CVE record: https://www.cve.org/CVERecord?id=CVE-2008-4999
- NVD: https://nvd.nist.gov/vuln/detail/CVE-2008-4999
- OSV: https://osv.dev/vulnerability/CVE-2008-4999

---
From sbomify Insights: https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2008-4999/
Summaries are generated and may contain mistakes; the official description above is the record.