CVE-2008-4250
The Server service in Microsoft Windows 2000 SP4, XP SP2 and SP3, Server 2003 SP1 and SP2, Vista Gold and SP1, Server 2008, and 7 Pre-Beta allows remote attackers to execute arbitrary code via a crafted RPC request that triggers the overflow during path canonicalization, as exploited in the wild by Gimmiv.A in October 2008, aka "Server Service Vulnerability."
do firstApply mitigations per vendor instructions, follow applicable BOD 22-01 guidance for cloud services, or discontinue use of the product if mitigations are unavailable.
Can a WAF block it? No. The attack uses a crafted RPC request, which is a non-HTTP network protocol, so it does not go through a web server or web application firewall. Therefore, a WAF cannot filter or block this attack.
Also consider: remove eval sinks · RASP · patch
Based on an AI reading of the CVE description, and no vendor rule found yet. We check Cloudflare, AWS, Google Cloud Armor and Azure; for Akamai, Imperva, Fastly, F5, ask your vendor.
Is CVE-2008-4250 being exploited?
Yes. CVE-2008-4250 appears in CISA's Known Exploited Vulnerabilities catalog, which means exploitation in the wild has been confirmed and reported. Treat it as active rather than theoretical, and patch it ahead of higher-scoring vulnerabilities that carry no exploitation evidence.
How severe is CVE-2008-4250?
CVE-2008-4250 is rated Critical with a CVSS score of 9.8. Severity describes how bad exploitation would be, not how likely it is: pair it with exploitation evidence before deciding what to patch first.
Is there a patch for CVE-2008-4250?
Yes. A fix has been recorded for CVE-2008-4250. The vendor advisory is the authority on the exact fixed version — apply it from there rather than from a summary.
What does CVE-2008-4250 affect?
CVE-2008-4250 affects microsoft:windows_2000, microsoft:windows_server_2003, microsoft:windows_server_2008, microsoft:windows_vista, and 1 further product or version. Confirm the exact affected versions against the vendor advisory before deciding you are exposed.
Exploitation status reflects CISA's KEV catalog as we last synced it. Check the catalog directly.
public exploits
Public exploit code: 6 on Exploit-DB · 1 Metasploit module · 4 GitHub proofs of concept
- Microsoft Windows - 'NetAPI32.dll' Code Execution (Python) (MS08-067) · remote · 26 Feb 2016
- Microsoft Windows Server - Service Relative Path Stack Corruption (MS08-067) (Metasploit) · remote · 21 Jan 2011 · verified
- Microsoft Windows Server 2000/2003 - Code Execution (MS08-067) · remote · 16 Nov 2008 · verified
- Microsoft Windows Server - Code Execution (MS08-067) · remote · 12 Nov 2008 · verified
- exploit/windows/smb/ms08_067_netapi · exploit · great
Listed so you can judge urgency, not as a recommendation to run anything. GitHub “proofs of concept” are unvetted: some are fake or carry malware. Exploit-DB marks the entries its staff verified.
cisa ssvc
- exploitation
- active
- automatable
- yes
- technical impact
- total
Assessed by CISA 20 May 2026 (SSVC 2.0.3).
timeline
- 23 Oct 2008First public exploit or proof of concept
- 23 Oct 2008Published · 1 day later
- 20 May 2026Added to CISA KEV (exploited in the wild) · 6,417 days (about 18 years) later
- 20 May 2026CISA SSVC assessment: exploitation active · same day later
- 21 May 2026CVE record last updated · 1 day later
- 3 Jun 2026CISA remediation due date (US federal agencies) · 13 days later
- 2 Nov 2026Analysed by vulneraibility.com · 153 days (about 5 months) later
- Advisorymarc.info /?l=bugtraq&m=122703006921213&w=2
- Advisorysecunia.com /advisories/32326
- Advisorykb.cert.org /vuls/id/827267
- Advisorydocs.microsoft.com /en-us/security-updates/securitybulletins/2008/ms08-067
- Advisoryus-cert.gov /cas/techalerts/TA08-297A.html
- Advisoryus-cert.gov /cas/techalerts/TA09-088A.html
- Exploitexploit-db.com /exploits/7132
- Exploitexploit-db.com /exploits/6841
Show 11 more
- Exploitexploit-db.com /exploits/6824
- Exploitexploit-db.com /exploits/7104
- Linksecuritytracker.com /id?1021091
- Linksecurityfocus.com /bid/31874
- Linkblogs.securiteam.com /index.php/archives/1150
- Linkvupen.com /english/advisories/2008/2902
- Linkexchange.xforce.ibmcloud.com /vulnerabilities/46040
- Linksecurityfocus.com /archive/1/497808/100/0/threaded
- Linkoval.cisecurity.org /repository/search/definition/oval%3Aorg.mitre.oval%3Adef%3A6093
- Linksecurityfocus.com /archive/1/497816/100/0/threaded
- Linkcisa.gov /known-exploited-vulnerabilities-catalog?field_cve=CVE-2008-4250
sources
- CVE List (CVE.org): description, affected versions, references; CVE Terms of Use
- NVD: CVSS and CPE data
- CISA KEV catalog: exploitation, date added, due date
- CISA Vulnrichment (ADP): SSVC decision points
- FIRST EPSS: exploit probability and percentile
- Exploit-DB: published exploits
- Metasploit Framework: exploit and scanner modules
- PoC-in-GitHub: GitHub repositories that claim a proof of concept
- Summary, impact and triage tags: written by our AI analysis pipeline from the sources above. Check them against the sources.