CVE-2008-1737
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 · uneditedSophos Anti-Virus 7.0.5, and other 7.x versions, when Runtime Behavioural Analysis is enabled, allows local users to cause a denial of service (reboot with the product disabled) and possibly gain privileges via a zero value in a certain length field in the ObjectAttributes argument to the NtCreateKey hooked System Service Descriptor Table (SSDT) function.
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 confidenceSophos Anti-Virus 7.x versions with Runtime Behavioural Analysis enabled contain a local privilege escalation and denial of service vulnerability. The hooked NtCreateKey SSDT function improperly handles a zero value in a length field within the ObjectAttributes argument, allowing local users to cause the product to disable and potentially gain elevated privileges.
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= 7.0.5CVSS 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
- Local
- Complexity
- M
- Authentication
- None
- Confidentiality
- Complete
- Integrity
- Complete
- Availability
- Complete
AV:L/AC:M/Au:N/C:C/I:C/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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Verify Sophos Anti-Virus is installedCheck for Sophos Anti-Virus installation by reviewing installed programs in Control Panel or querying the Windows registry under HKLM\SOFTWARE\Sophos for the product installationAffected if Sophos Anti-Virus is not found on the system - the system is not affected by this CVE
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Confirm the installed versionLocate the Sophos Anti-Virus version information in the program files directory (typically under Sophos\Sophos Anti-Virus) or via the Windows registry at HKLM\SOFTWARE\Sophos\Sophos Anti-Virus\VersionAffected if The installed version is 7.0.5 - this version is specifically listed as affected; versions outside 7.x are not in scope for this CVE
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Determine if Runtime Behavioural Analysis is enabledOpen the Sophos Anti-Virus console or configuration settings and locate the Runtime Behavioural Analysis feature status, or query the Windows registry under HKLM\SOFTWARE\Sophos\Sophos Anti-Virus\BehaviouralAnalysis for the enabled stateAffected if Runtime Behavioural Analysis is turned ON or set to an enabled state - this feature must be active for the vulnerability to be exploitable
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Verify the SSDT hook is presentUse a kernel debugging tool or a system utility capable of inspecting the System Service Descriptor Table to confirm that Sophos has hooked the NtCreateKey function; this hook is created when Runtime Behavioural Analysis is loadedAffected if The NtCreateKey SSDT hook from Sophos is present in the kernel - the vulnerable code path is active when the hook exists
A system is affected only if Sophos Anti-Virus version 7.0.5 is installed AND Runtime Behavioural Analysis feature is enabled, allowing the vulnerable NtCreateKey SSDT hook to be active in kernel mode.
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 dataDisable the Runtime Behavioural Analysis feature in Sophos Anti-Virus 7.x, or upgrade to a version that addresses this vulnerability. If upgrading is not immediately feasible, disabling the behavioural analysis provides a compensating control.
- Consultation1.0 h
- Implementation1.0 h
- Testing1.0 h
- Review / QA1.0 h
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Free · runs locallyCheck whether your project pulls in CVE-2008-1737 — 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-2008-1737 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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- 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
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