CVE-2008-4616

Spambam <= 2.1 - Authorization Bypass

2008-01-15 00:00

Strategic Overview

Status: Unpatched
Affected Plugin: SpamBam
Affected Version: <= 2.1
CVSS: 7.3High
Weakness type: CWE-20 · Improper Input Validation
CVE: CVE-2008-4616

At a glance

CVE-2008-4616 is a high-severity Improper Input Validation vulnerability in the SpamBam WordPress plugin, affecting versions <= 2.1. It carries a CVSS score of 7.3 (reachable over the network; low attack complexity). Exploitation requires no authentication. No fixed release has been reported yet; treat installations running this software as exposed. Disclosed January 2008, reported by Jos.

Vulnerability Overview

The SpamBam plugin for WordPress allows remote attackers to bypass restrictions and add blog comments by using server-supplied values to calculate a shared key.

Technical Analysis

The vector marks this flaw as remotely reachable over the network, with low attack complexity — no special timing or configuration is needed, and no privileges on the target site, and no interaction from a victim user.

CWE-20: Improper Input Validation

Reaching this weakness in SpamBam <= 2.1 takes a caller who can reach the endpoint. Improper input validation means the application accepts input without confirming it has the form, type or range the code downstream assumes.

The concrete impact depends on where the unvalidated value lands, which is why records in this class range from cosmetic bugs to full compromise. No fixed build of this plugin is recorded for SpamBam yet, so installs running <= 2.1 stay exposed until the vendor ships one.

Remediation

No known patch available. Please review the vulnerability's details in depth and employ mitigations based on your organization's risk tolerance. It may be best to uninstall the affected software and find a replacement.

How does WordSec protect against this?

The attempt arrives as an ordinary request to SpamBam: WordSec's web application firewall inspects request payloads before WordPress loads them. No patched version is recorded yet, which is the case where a filtering layer matters most, because there is nothing to update to.

Firewall
Alerts

External References

https://www.cve.org/CVERecord?id=CVE-2008-4616 https://www.wordfence.com/threat-intel/vulnerabilities/id/835b254a-9135-4b9d-8607-7122304601bc https://nvd.nist.gov/vuln/detail/CVE-2008-4616

CVSS Vector

7.3

CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:L/PR:N/UI:N/S:U/C:L/I:L/A:L

Base

Attack VectorNetwork
Attack ComplexityLow
Privileges RequiredNone
User InteractionNone
ScopeUnchanged
ConfidentialityLow
IntegrityLow
AvailabilityLow

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