CVE-2005-3899
Official description Straight from the sourceThe vendor's or NVD's own wording, published unedited. Authoritative, but often terse — it says what broke, rarely what to do.
NVD · uneditedThe automatic update feature in Google Talk allows remote attackers to cause a denial of service (CPU and memory consumption) by poisoning a target's DNS cache and causing a large update file to be sent, which consumes large amounts of CPU and memory during the signature verification, aka BenjiBug.
Technical summary Written by usOur analysis, written from the advisory, the CVSS vector and the affected-version data. It adds context the advisory leaves out, and never invents facts that are not in the source.
dbcve analysis · high confidenceThis vulnerability exists in Google Talk's automatic update feature. Attackers exploit DNS cache poisoning to redirect the update check to a malicious server, causing the client to download and attempt to verify a large update file. The signature verification process consumes excessive CPU and memory resources, resulting in denial of service.
Verify against the referenced sources before acting — the references below are authoritative for this CVE, this summary is not.
Affected products & versions What the vendor confirmedThe version ranges the vendor confirmed as vulnerable. If your version sits inside a range here, treat yourself as exposed until you have upgraded.
NVD · CPE dataall versionsCVSS breakdown How the score is builtThe industry scoring standard. It rates how the flaw is reached, what it takes to exploit, and what an attacker gains — the score is derived from those, not the other way round.
From the vector- Attack vector
- Network
- Complexity
- High
- Authentication
- None
- Confidentiality
- None
- Integrity
- None
- Availability
- Complete
AV:N/AC:H/Au:N/C:N/I:N/A:C
Am I affected? How to checkSteps we derive from the advisory and the affected-version data, so you can decide whether this CVE reaches your setup. They are a guide, not a scan — your own configuration is the authority.
dbcve checksWork through these to decide whether this CVE applies to you.
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Detect Google Talk installationSearch for googleTalk.exe or gtalk.exe in common installation directories: C:\Program Files\Google\Google Talk\, C:\Program Files (x86)\Google\Google Talk\, or check Start Menu for Google Talk shortcuts. On Linux/Mac, check /Applications and ~/Applications for Google Talk.app.Affected if Google Talk executable or installation directory is found on the system
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Check for running Google Talk processRun tasklist (Windows) or ps aux (Linux/Mac) and look for processes named googleTalk.exe, gtalk.exe, or Google Talk. Also check for related processes like updater or plugin modules.Affected if A Google Talk process is currently running or was recently running on the system
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Verify automatic update configurationExamine Google Talk configuration files for update-related settings. Look in the application data folder (typically %APPDATA%\Google\Google Talk\ on Windows or ~/.google/googletalk/ on Linux) for config files that may contain update server URLs or auto-update enable flags.Affected if Update configuration files exist and the automatic update feature is enabled or configured to point to update servers
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Check for Google Talk startup entriesCheck system startup locations for Google Talk: Windows Registry run keys (HKCU\Software\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Run, HKLM\Software\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Run), or startup folders. On Linux, check ~/.config/autostart/ for .desktop files referencing Google Talk.Affected if Google Talk is configured to start automatically with the system, implying active use of the application and its update mechanism
If Google Talk is installed on the system with the automatic update feature enabled or configured, the system is affected by this vulnerability and should be removed since no patch is available.
Generated from the published advisory. Verify against your own configuration.
Remediation Closing itWhat it takes to close this. Where a vendor fix exists we point at it; where none exists we say so plainly, and can build one. Effort estimates are scoped from the advisory, not from your codebase.
From vendor dataSince Google Talk is deprecated/discontinued, no active mitigation is available. Organizations should ensure legacy Google Talk installations are removed. For similar update mechanisms, implement TLS-based endpoint validation, certificate pinning, and proper DNS spoofing protections.
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Scan for this in your stack
Free · runs locallyCheck whether your project pulls in CVE-2005-3899 — or any other known-vulnerable package — straight from your lock files. Free and open source; it runs locally and uploads nothing.
References Go to the primary sourcePrimary sources — vendor advisories, patches and trackers. Where our summary and a reference disagree, the reference wins.
Primary sourcesPractitioner notes
ContributedPeer-ranked notes from engineers who’ve handled CVE-2005-3899 in production — separate from our analysis above.
The advisory tells you what broke. It rarely tells you what actually worked. If you’ve dealt with this one, that detail is what the next engineer is searching for.
- The version that genuinely resolved it — not the one the vendor claimed
- A config change or rule that shut the vector down
- A gotcha in the upgrade path that cost you an afternoon
No notes yet
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A place for practitioners to share what actually worked: a mitigation you’ve tested, a configuration change, a version- or environment-specific caveat, or a link to a verified patch. The most useful notes rise to the top as peers upvote them, so the signal stays high.
- Verified mitigations, workarounds, and config changes
- Version or environment caveats, and links to real fixes
- No weaponised exploit code, or anything meant to cause harm
- No spam, self-promotion, credentials, or personal data