LinuxApplication · Ubuntu
CVE-2008-2285
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 ssh-vulnkey tool on Ubuntu Linux 7.04, 7.10, and 8.04 LTS does not recognize authorized_keys lines that contain options, which makes it easier for remote attackers to exploit CVE-2008-0166 by guessing a key that was not identified by this tool.
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 confidenceThe ssh-vulnkey detection tool on Ubuntu 7.04, 7.10, and 8.04 LTS fails to parse authorized_keys entries that contain options (such as 'from=', 'command=', or 'no-port-forwarding'). When options precede the key type and key data, the tool skips the entire line and does not identify it as vulnerable to CVE-2008-0166, allowing attackers to potentially use undetected vulnerable keys for exploitation.
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
LinuxApplication
= 7.04= 7.10= 8.04CVSS 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
- None
- Availability
- None
AV:N/AC:L/Au:N/C:P/I:N/A:N
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 ssh-vulnkey is installedRun 'which ssh-vulnkey' or 'dpkg -l | grep ssh-vulnkey' to confirm the tool exists on the systemAffected if The tool is not installed but authorized_keys files exist on the system - manual review is required instead
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Run ssh-vulnkey against authorized_keysExecute 'ssh-vulnkey -a /path/to/authorized_keys' for each user's authorized_keys file (commonly in ~/.ssh/)Affected if ssh-vulnkey reports no vulnerabilities but authorized_keys contains entries with options (from=, command=, no-port-forwarding, etc.) at the start of lines
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Manually inspect authorized_keys for option-prefixed entriesOpen each authorized_keys file and examine lines that begin with option specifications before the key type (ssh-rsa, ssh-dss)Affected if Any line starts with option keywords followed by the key type and key data, and that key was generated during 2008
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Cross-reference key generation datesCheck the creation timestamp of SSH key files (ls -la ~/.ssh/id_rsa or id_dsa) against the vulnerable period of CVE-2008-0166 (September 2008 OpenSSH packages)Affected if Keys were generated on systems running the vulnerable Ubuntu OpenSSH packages from that era
You are affected if ssh-vulnkey may have skipped authorized_keys entries containing options at line start, and those keys were generated during the vulnerable period when Ubuntu shipped OpenSSH packages with predictable random number generation.
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 dataUsers should not rely solely on ssh-vulnkey to identify all vulnerable keys; manually review authorized_keys files for keys generated during vulnerable periods, and regenerate SSH keypairs on affected systems.
Fix this in Linux
Scoped from the published advisory
- Consultation2.0 h
- Implementation4.0 h
- Testing3.0 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 $3,088.
Scan for this in your stack
Free · runs locallyCheck whether your project pulls in CVE-2008-2285 — 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-2008-2285 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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- Version or environment caveats, and links to real fixes
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