CVE-2008-1394
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 · uneditedPlone CMS before 3 places a base64 encoded form of the username and password in the __ac cookie for all user accounts, which makes it easier for remote attackers to obtain access by sniffing the network.
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 confidencePlone CMS before version 3 stores user credentials (username and password) in base64-encoded format within the __ac authentication cookie. This cookie is transmitted in plaintext over the network, allowing remote attackers who can sniff traffic to easily decode the base64 string and obtain plaintext credentials.
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 data<= 2.5.1= 2.0.5= 2.1.2= 2.1.3= 2.5CVSS 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
- Low
- Authentication
- None
- Confidentiality
- Partial
- Integrity
- Partial
- Availability
- Partial
AV:N/AC:L/Au:N/C:P/I:P/A:P
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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Identify Plone versionLocate the version.py file in the Plone installation directory or check the ZMI (Zope Management Interface) /about page. Common paths include /portal_about or check the 'plone.app.layout' package version.Affected if The installed version is <= 2.5.1, 2.0.5, 2.1.2, 2.1.3, or 2.5 (any version in the 2.x line before 3.0)
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Inspect the authentication cookieLog into the Plone site using a browser, then use browser developer tools or a packet sniffer to capture the HTTP request headers. Look for a cookie named '__ac' in the Set-Cookie or Cookie header.Affected if An __ac cookie is present in the response after authentication
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Decode the __ac cookie valueCopy the value of the __ac cookie from the HTTP response and decode it using base64 (e.g., echo 'VALUE' | base64 -d in Linux or use an online base64 decoder).Affected if The decoded value contains a username and password in plaintext format (e.g., username:password)
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Verify HTTP transport without encryptionCheck whether the Plone site is accessible over HTTP (not HTTPS). Capture network traffic using a proxy or packet sniffer when logging in and observe whether the __ac cookie is transmitted over an unencrypted HTTP connection.Affected if The __ac cookie is transmitted over plaintext HTTP rather than HTTPS
A user is affected if running Plone 2.x (2.5 or earlier) with the __ac cookie transmitted over HTTP, where the cookie value decodes to plaintext credentials.
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 dataUpgrade to Plone 3 or later which uses proper session-based authentication; alternatively, enforce HTTPS to encrypt cookie transmission in transit, and rotate user passwords as a precaution.
- Consultation3.0 h
- Implementation8.0 h
- Testing4.0 h
- Review / QA2.0 h
An estimate, not a bill — we confirm scope with you before any work starts. Need it this week? Rush from $4,800.
Scan for this in your stack
Free · runs locallyCheck whether your project pulls in CVE-2008-1394 — 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-2008-1394 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