Vulnerability Monitor

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CVE-2008-5038

Use-after-free vulnerability in the NetWare Core Protocol (NCP) feature in Novell eDirectory 8.7.3 SP10 before 8.7.3 SP10 FTF1 and 8.8 SP2 for Windows allows remote attackers to cause a denial of service and possibly execute arbitrary code via a sequence of "Get NCP Extension Information By Name" requests that cause one thread to operate on memory after it has been freed in another thread, which triggers memory corruption, aka Novell Bug 373852.

Security Impact Summary

This vulnerability carries a CRITICAL severity rating with a CVSS v3.1 score of 9.8, indicating it can be exploited remotely over the network with relatively low complexity without requiring user interaction and does not require pre-existing privileges . The vulnerability impacts confidentiality (data exposure), integrity (unauthorized modifications), and availability (service disruption) for affected systems. Impacting 1 product from novell organizations running these solutions should prioritize assessment and patching.

Historical Context

Originally identified in 2008, this vulnerability predates many modern security frameworks and practices. The vulnerability landscape of that era was characterized by different threat models and less mature defense mechanisms compared to contemporary standards.

Published

2008-11-12T21:09:03.050

Last Modified

2026-04-23T00:35:47.467

Status

Modified

Source

[email protected]

Severity

CVSSv3.1: 9.8 (CRITICAL)

CVSSv2 Vector

AV:N/AC:L/Au:N/C:C/I:C/A:C

Access Vector: NETWORK
Access Complexity: LOW
Authentication: NONE
Confidentiality Impact: COMPLETE
Integrity Impact: COMPLETE
Availability Impact: COMPLETE

Exploitability Score

10.0

Impact Score

10.0

Weaknesses

Type: Primary
CWE-416

Affected Vendors & Products

Type	Vendor	Product	Version/Range	Vulnerable?
Application	novell	edirectory	< 8.7.3	Yes
Application	novell	edirectory	8.7.3	Yes
Application	novell	edirectory	8.7.3	Yes
Application	novell	edirectory	8.7.3	Yes
Application	novell	edirectory	8.7.3	Yes
Application	novell	edirectory	8.7.3	Yes
Application	novell	edirectory	8.7.3	Yes
Application	novell	edirectory	8.7.3	Yes
Application	novell	edirectory	8.7.3	Yes
Application	novell	edirectory	8.7.3	Yes
Application	novell	edirectory	8.8	Yes

References

http://labs.idefense.com/intelligence/vulnerabilities/display.php?id=748 Broken Link ([email protected])
http://osvdb.org/48206 Broken Link ([email protected])
http://secunia.com/advisories/32395 Broken Link, Vendor Advisory ([email protected])
http://support.novell.com/docs/Readmes/InfoDocument/patchbuilder/readme_5037180.html Broken Link, Patch, Vendor Advisory ([email protected])
http://support.novell.com/docs/Readmes/InfoDocument/patchbuilder/readme_5037181.html Broken Link, Patch ([email protected])
http://www.novell.com/support/viewContent.do?externalId=3426981 Broken Link ([email protected])
http://www.securityfocus.com/bid/31956 Broken Link, Third Party Advisory, VDB Entry ([email protected])
http://www.securitytracker.com/id?1021117 Broken Link, Third Party Advisory, VDB Entry ([email protected])
http://www.vupen.com/english/advisories/2008/2937 Broken Link, Vendor Advisory ([email protected])
https://exchange.xforce.ibmcloud.com/vulnerabilities/46138 Third Party Advisory, VDB Entry ([email protected])
http://labs.idefense.com/intelligence/vulnerabilities/display.php?id=748 Broken Link (af854a3a-2127-422b-91ae-364da2661108)
http://osvdb.org/48206 Broken Link (af854a3a-2127-422b-91ae-364da2661108)
http://secunia.com/advisories/32395 Broken Link, Vendor Advisory (af854a3a-2127-422b-91ae-364da2661108)
http://support.novell.com/docs/Readmes/InfoDocument/patchbuilder/readme_5037180.html Broken Link, Patch, Vendor Advisory (af854a3a-2127-422b-91ae-364da2661108)
http://support.novell.com/docs/Readmes/InfoDocument/patchbuilder/readme_5037181.html Broken Link, Patch (af854a3a-2127-422b-91ae-364da2661108)
http://www.novell.com/support/viewContent.do?externalId=3426981 Broken Link (af854a3a-2127-422b-91ae-364da2661108)
http://www.securityfocus.com/bid/31956 Broken Link, Third Party Advisory, VDB Entry (af854a3a-2127-422b-91ae-364da2661108)
http://www.securitytracker.com/id?1021117 Broken Link, Third Party Advisory, VDB Entry (af854a3a-2127-422b-91ae-364da2661108)
http://www.vupen.com/english/advisories/2008/2937 Broken Link, Vendor Advisory (af854a3a-2127-422b-91ae-364da2661108)
https://exchange.xforce.ibmcloud.com/vulnerabilities/46138 Third Party Advisory, VDB Entry (af854a3a-2127-422b-91ae-364da2661108)

How SecUtils Interprets This CVE

SecUtils normalizes and enriches National Vulnerability Database (NVD) records by standardizing vendor and product identifiers, aggregating vulnerability metadata from both NVD and MITRE sources, and providing structured context for security teams. For novell's affected products, we extract Common Platform Enumeration (CPE) data, Common Weakness Enumeration (CWE) classifications, CVSS severity metrics, and reference data to enable rapid vulnerability prioritization and asset correlation. This record contains no exploit code, proof-of-concept instructions, or attack methodologies—only defensive intelligence necessary for patch management, risk assessment, and security operations.