# CVE-2008-5698: Use after free in n/a

> Remote attackers can crash the Konqueror browser by triggering a use-after-free error via a malicious document load, requiring user interaction.

- **Severity:** Medium 4.3 (`AV:N/AC:M/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:** A user has to click or open something
- **Fix available:** No
- **Published:** 22 Dec 2008
- **Updated:** 7 Aug 2024
- **Also known as:** GHSA-jvw2-792q-jwgr

## What is CVE-2008-5698?

CVE-2008-5698 is a medium-severity use after free vulnerability in n/a, published on 22 Dec 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

HTMLTokenizer::scriptHandler in Konqueror in KDE 3.5.9 and 3.5.10 allows remote attackers to cause a denial of service (application crash) via an invalid document.load call that triggers use of a deleted object.  NOTE: some of these details are obtained from third party information.

Weakness: CWE-399

## Which versions are affected by CVE-2008-5698?

It affects 1 product.


Products: Kde Konqueror.

## How do I fix CVE-2008-5698?

No fix has been published for CVE-2008-5698 yet. Limit exposure of the affected software until one is available.

## Is CVE-2008-5698 being exploited?

It is not confirmed as exploited in the wild, but public exploit code for CVE-2008-5698 exists.

Public exploit code:

- Konqueror 3.5.9 - 'load' Remote Crash (exploitdb)

## Other vulnerabilities in n/a

- [CVE-2007-1565](https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2007-1565/): Denial of service in n/a (high 7.8)
- [CVE-2004-0866](https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2004-0866/): Auth bypass in n/a (high 7.5)
- [CVE-2004-1158](https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2004-1158/): Other in n/a (high 7.5)
- [CVE-2004-0867](https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2004-0867/): Auth bypass in n/a (high 7.5)
- [CVE-2004-0721](https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2004-0721/): Cross-site scripting in n/a (high 7.5)

## Fix prompt for AI coding agents

```text
Check this codebase for CVE-2008-5698 and fix it if it is affected.

What it is: CVE-2008-5698 is a medium-severity use after free vulnerability in n/a, published on 22 Dec 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-2008-5698 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-2008-5698/ (Markdown: https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2008-5698/index.md)
```

## Sources

- CVE record: https://www.cve.org/CVERecord?id=CVE-2008-5698
- NVD: https://nvd.nist.gov/vuln/detail/CVE-2008-5698
- OSV: https://osv.dev/vulnerability/CVE-2008-5698

---
From sbomify Insights: https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2008-5698/
Summaries are generated and may contain mistakes; the official description above is the record.