# CVE-2008-5050: Memory corruption in n/a

> Remote attackers can cause denial of service or execute arbitrary code via a crafted VBA project file due to a heap-based buffer overflow in ClamAV.

- **Severity:** Critical 9.3 (`AV:N/AC:M/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:** 13 Nov 2008
- **Updated:** 7 Aug 2024
- **Also known as:** DEBIAN-CVE-2008-5050, GHSA-594g-rvq4-vvxr

## What is CVE-2008-5050?

CVE-2008-5050 is a critical memory corruption vulnerability in Clam Anti-Virus Clamav, published on 13 Nov 2008. An attacker can exploit it over the internet without logging in, with no action from the victim.

### Official description

Off-by-one error in the get_unicode_name function (libclamav/vba_extract.c) in Clam Anti-Virus (ClamAV) before 0.94.1 allows remote attackers to cause a denial of service (crash) or possibly execute arbitrary code via a crafted VBA project file, which triggers a heap-based buffer overflow.

Weakness: CWE-119 (Improper Restriction of Operations within the Bounds of a Memory Buffer)

## Which versions are affected by CVE-2008-5050?

It affects 1 product.


Products: Clam Anti-Virus Clamav.

## How do I fix CVE-2008-5050?

Upgrade to a fixed version.

## Is CVE-2008-5050 being exploited?

There is no known exploitation of CVE-2008-5050 in the wild and no public exploit code.

## Other vulnerabilities in Clam Anti-Virus Clamav

- [CVE-2008-1100](https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2008-1100/): Memory corruption in n/a (critical 10.0)
- [CVE-2008-0318](https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2008-0318/): Integer overflow in n/a (critical 10.0)
- [CVE-2007-6337](https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2007-6337/): Unspecified vulnerability in the bzip2 decompression algorithm in nsis/bzlib_private.h in ClamAV before 0.92 has unknown impact and remote attack vectors. (critical 10.0)
- [CVE-2007-3023](https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2007-3023/): Memory corruption in n/a (critical 10.0)
- [CVE-2005-3587](https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2005-3587/): Memory corruption in n/a (critical 10.0)

## Fix prompt for AI coding agents

```text
Check this codebase for CVE-2008-5050 and fix it if it is affected.

What it is: CVE-2008-5050 is a critical memory corruption vulnerability in Clam Anti-Virus Clamav, published on 13 Nov 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-2008-5050 in the wild and no public exploit code.

Affected product: Clam Anti-Virus 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-2008-5050/ (Markdown: https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2008-5050/index.md)
```

## Sources

- CVE record: https://www.cve.org/CVERecord?id=CVE-2008-5050
- NVD: https://nvd.nist.gov/vuln/detail/CVE-2008-5050
- OSV: https://osv.dev/vulnerability/CVE-2008-5050

---
From sbomify Insights: https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2008-5050/
Summaries are generated and may contain mistakes; the official description above is the record.