# CVE-2008-5081: Denial of service in n/a > Remote attackers can crash the Avahi daemon by sending a crafted mDNS packet with a source port of 0, causing a denial of service. - **Severity:** Medium 5.0 (`AV:N/AC:L/Au:N/C:N/I:N/A:P`) - **Exploited in the wild:** Not known - **Login needed:** Not needed - **Attackable:** Over the internet - **Victim action needed:** Not needed - **Fix available:** Yes - **Published:** 17 Dec 2008 - **Updated:** 7 Aug 2024 - **Also known as:** DEBIAN-CVE-2008-5081, DTSA-189-1, GHSA-r2cw-w385-f36j, RHSA-2009:0013 ## What is CVE-2008-5081? CVE-2008-5081 is a medium-severity denial of service vulnerability in n/a, published on 17 Dec 2008. An attacker can exploit it over the internet without logging in, with no action from the victim. ### Official description The originates_from_local_legacy_unicast_socket function (avahi-core/server.c) in avahi-daemon in Avahi before 0.6.24 allows remote attackers to cause a denial of service (crash) via a crafted mDNS packet with a source port of 0, which triggers an assertion failure. Weakness: CWE-399 ## Which versions are affected by CVE-2008-5081? It affects 1 product. | Package | Ecosystem | Affected | Fixed in | | --- | --- | --- | --- | | `avahi` | Red Hat:enterprise_linux:5::client | All versions | 0:0.6.16-1.el5_2.1 | | `avahi-compat-howl` | Red Hat:enterprise_linux:5::client | All versions | 0:0.6.16-1.el5_2.1 | | `avahi-compat-libdns_sd` | Red Hat:enterprise_linux:5::client | All versions | 0:0.6.16-1.el5_2.1 | | `avahi-debuginfo` | Red Hat:enterprise_linux:5::client | All versions | 0:0.6.16-1.el5_2.1 | | `avahi-glib` | Red Hat:enterprise_linux:5::client | All versions | 0:0.6.16-1.el5_2.1 | | `avahi-qt3` | Red Hat:enterprise_linux:5::client | All versions | 0:0.6.16-1.el5_2.1 | | `avahi-tools` | Red Hat:enterprise_linux:5::client | All versions | 0:0.6.16-1.el5_2.1 | | `avahi` | Red Hat:enterprise_linux:5::client_workstation | All versions | 0:0.6.16-1.el5_2.1 | | `avahi-compat-howl-devel` | Red Hat:enterprise_linux:5::client_workstation | All versions | 0:0.6.16-1.el5_2.1 | | `avahi-compat-libdns_sd-devel` | Red Hat:enterprise_linux:5::client_workstation | All versions | 0:0.6.16-1.el5_2.1 | | `avahi-debuginfo` | Red Hat:enterprise_linux:5::client_workstation | All versions | 0:0.6.16-1.el5_2.1 | | `avahi-devel` | Red Hat:enterprise_linux:5::client_workstation | All versions | 0:0.6.16-1.el5_2.1 | | `avahi-glib-devel` | Red Hat:enterprise_linux:5::client_workstation | All versions | 0:0.6.16-1.el5_2.1 | | `avahi-qt3-devel` | Red Hat:enterprise_linux:5::client_workstation | All versions | 0:0.6.16-1.el5_2.1 | | `avahi` | Red Hat:enterprise_linux:5::server | All versions | 0:0.6.16-1.el5_2.1 | | `avahi-compat-howl` | Red Hat:enterprise_linux:5::server | All versions | 0:0.6.16-1.el5_2.1 | | `avahi-compat-howl-devel` | Red Hat:enterprise_linux:5::server | All versions | 0:0.6.16-1.el5_2.1 | | `avahi-compat-libdns_sd` | Red Hat:enterprise_linux:5::server | All versions | 0:0.6.16-1.el5_2.1 | | `avahi-compat-libdns_sd-devel` | Red Hat:enterprise_linux:5::server | All versions | 0:0.6.16-1.el5_2.1 | | `avahi-debuginfo` | Red Hat:enterprise_linux:5::server | All versions | 0:0.6.16-1.el5_2.1 | | `avahi-devel` | Red Hat:enterprise_linux:5::server | All versions | 0:0.6.16-1.el5_2.1 | | `avahi-glib` | Red Hat:enterprise_linux:5::server | All versions | 0:0.6.16-1.el5_2.1 | | `avahi-glib-devel` | Red Hat:enterprise_linux:5::server | All versions | 0:0.6.16-1.el5_2.1 | | `avahi-qt3` | Red Hat:enterprise_linux:5::server | All versions | 0:0.6.16-1.el5_2.1 | | `avahi-qt3-devel` | Red Hat:enterprise_linux:5::server | All versions | 0:0.6.16-1.el5_2.1 | | `avahi-tools` | Red Hat:enterprise_linux:5::server | All versions | 0:0.6.16-1.el5_2.1 | Products: Avahi Avahi. ## How do I fix CVE-2008-5081? Upgrade to a fixed version. ## Is CVE-2008-5081 being exploited? It is not confirmed as exploited in the wild, but public exploit code for CVE-2008-5081 exists. Public exploit code: - Avahi Source Port 0 DoS (metasploit) - Avahi < 0.6.24 - mDNS Daemon Remote Denial of Service (exploitdb) ## Other vulnerabilities in n/a - [CVE-2017-6519](https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2017-6519/): Denial of service in n/a (critical 9.1) - [CVE-2021-26720](https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2021-26720/): Path traversal in n/a (high 7.8) - [CVE-2026-24401](https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2026-24401/): Avahi has Uncontrolled Recursion in lookup_handle_cname function (medium 6.5) - [CVE-2025-68468](https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2025-68468/): Avahi has a reachable assertion in lookup_multicast_callback (medium 6.5) - [CVE-2025-68471](https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2025-68471/): Avahi has a reachable assertion in lookup_start (medium 6.5) ## Fix prompt for AI coding agents ```text Check this codebase for CVE-2008-5081 and fix it if it is affected. What it is: CVE-2008-5081 is a medium-severity denial of service vulnerability in n/a, published on 17 Dec 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-2008-5081 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-2008-5081/ (Markdown: https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2008-5081/index.md) ``` ## Sources - CVE record: https://www.cve.org/CVERecord?id=CVE-2008-5081 - NVD: https://nvd.nist.gov/vuln/detail/CVE-2008-5081 - OSV: https://osv.dev/vulnerability/CVE-2008-5081 --- From sbomify Insights: https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2008-5081/ Summaries are generated and may contain mistakes; the official description above is the record.