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Secure AcsApplication · Cisco

CVE-2008-2441

HIGH · 7.5 CVSS v2.0 Published 2008-09-04
Mitigation only
No fix yet — a mitigation exists. There is no fixed release. A documented workaround reduces exposure in the meantime.
See remediation →
84/100
Remediation priority · High
Remotely reachable No privileges Zero-click

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 · unedited
Cisco Secure ACS 3.x before 3.3(4) Build 12 patch 7, 4.0.x, 4.1.x before 4.1(4) Build 13 Patch 11, and 4.2.x before 4.2(0) Build 124 Patch 4 does not properly handle an EAP Response packet in which the value of the length field exceeds the actual packet length, which allows remote authenticated users to cause a denial of service (CSRadius and CSAuth service crash) or possibly execute arbitrary code via a crafted RADIUS (1) EAP-Response/Identity, (2) EAP-Response/MD5, or (3) EAP-Response/TLS Message Attribute packet.

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 confidence

Cisco Secure ACS contains a vulnerability in its RADIUS server component (CSRadius and CSAuth services) where it fails to properly validate the length field in EAP Response packets against the actual packet length. An authenticated remote attacker can send crafted EAP-Response/Identity, EAP-Response/MD5, or EAP-Response/TLS packets with a length field value exceeding the actual packet size, causing a denial of service (service crash) or potentially arbitrary code execution.

MitigationApply Cisco patches for this vulnerability: upgrade to Cisco Secure ACS 3.3(4) Build 12 patch 7, 4.1(4) Build 13 Patch 11, or 4.2(0) Build 124 Patch 4 or later. Additionally, restrict RADIUS access to trusted authentication sources via network access controls.

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
Secure AcsApplication
Affected:all versions
Secure Access Control ServerHardware / appliance
Affected:all versions

CVSS 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 checks

Work through these to decide whether this CVE applies to you.

  1. Identify Cisco Secure ACS installation
    Check for the presence of Cisco Secure ACS by looking in the program directory (default locations: C:\CiscoSecure on Windows or /opt/CSM on Linux) and checking for CSRadius.exe or CSAuth.exe processes in the task manager or via 'tasklist /FI "IMAGENAME eq CSRadius.exe"' or 'tasklist /FI "IMAGENAME eq CSAuth.exe"'
    Affected if Either the installation directory exists or one of the CSRadius or CSAuth processes is running on the system
  2. Determine the installed version
    Open the Cisco Secure ACS management console and navigate to System Administration > Product Info, or check the version information in the About screen of the ACS web interface
    Affected if The version is any version of Cisco Secure ACS or Cisco Secure Access Control Server since all versions are affected according to the CVE
  3. Verify RADIUS service is enabled
    Check if the CSRadius service is configured and running on the system via Windows Services console or by running 'sc query CSRadius' from command line
    Affected if The CSRadius service is installed and running, exposing the vulnerable RADIUS server component
  4. Confirm EAP authentication methods are configured
    Access the Cisco Secure ACS web interface and navigate to Interface Configuration > RADIUS Interfaces > [Select Interface] > EAP Properties, or check the ACS log configuration for EAP-based authentication attempts
    Affected if EAP-based authentication methods (particularly EAP-Response/Identity, EAP-Response/MD5, or EAP-Response/TLS) are enabled in the RADIUS configuration
  5. Check network exposure of RADIUS ports
    Run 'netstat -an | findstr "1645 1646"' to see if UDP ports 1645/1646 (RADIUS authentication) or ports 1812/1813 (RADIUS accounting) are listening on external interfaces
    Affected if The RADIUS ports are bound to non-loopback addresses and are accessible from untrusted networks

A system is likely affected if it runs any version of Cisco Secure ACS with the CSRadius or CSAuth services enabled and has RADIUS with EAP authentication methods exposed to network access.

Generated from the published advisory. Verify against your own configuration.

Check your environment

Paste your version and any relevant configuration and it will be compared against the affected criteria above. Do not include secrets or credentials.

AI-assisted, checked against the advisory. Informational, not a guarantee.

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 data
Mitigation available No clean upgrade yet — mitigate in the meantime
Mitigation

Apply Cisco patches for this vulnerability: upgrade to Cisco Secure ACS 3.3(4) Build 12 patch 7, 4.1(4) Build 13 Patch 11, or 4.2(0) Build 124 Patch 4 or later. Additionally, restrict RADIUS access to trusted authentication sources via network access controls.

Fix this in Secure Acs Scoped from the published advisory
  • Consultation1.0 h
  • Implementation1.0 h
  • Testing2.0 h
  • Review / QA1.0 h
5.0 hours of engineering $860
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References Go to the primary sourcePrimary sources — vendor advisories, patches and trackers. Where our summary and a reference disagree, the reference wins.

Primary sources

Practitioner notes

Contributed

Peer-ranked notes from engineers who’ve handled CVE-2008-2441 in production — separate from our analysis above.

No notes yet

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What this is

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.

What belongs here
  • 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