CVE-2008-2956
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 · uneditedMemory leak in Pidgin 2.0.0, and possibly other versions, allows remote attackers to cause a denial of service (memory consumption) via malformed XML documents. NOTE: this issue has been disputed by the upstream vendor, who states: "I was never able to identify a scenario under which a problem occurred and the original reporter wasn't able to supply any sort of reproduction details."
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 · low confidenceA memory leak exists in Pidgin 2.0.0's XML document parsing functionality. When processing malformed XML documents from remote sources, the application fails to properly deallocate memory, leading to progressive memory consumption and eventual 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 data= 2.0.0CVSS 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
- None
- Integrity
- None
- Availability
- Partial
AV:N/AC:L/Au:N/C:N/I:N/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.
-
Identify the installed Pidgin versionOpen Pidgin and go to Help > About, or run 'pidgin --version' from the command line. Alternatively, check the program's file properties on Windows or your package manager on Linux.Affected if The version listed is exactly 2.0.0. Versions before or after this specific release are not affected by this CVE.
-
Determine if XML-based features are in useCheck if you use features that involve receiving XML content, such as custom smileys, buddy icons from non-local sources, or any plugins that fetch remote content. Look at Account settings and any active plugins.Affected if The vulnerability triggers when Pidgin processes malformed XML from remote sources, so active use of features that fetch remote XML content would be required for exploitation.
-
Monitor for unusual memory growthObserve Pidgin's memory consumption over time using Task Manager (Windows) or tools like 'top' or 'ps' (Linux). Specifically, monitor memory usage while receiving messages or content from remote contacts.Affected if Progressive memory consumption that continues to grow without stabilizing may indicate the leak is being triggered.
You are affected if you are running Pidgin exactly at version 2.0.0 AND regularly receive or process XML content from remote sources such as custom smileys or buddy icons from contacts.
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 a patched version of Pidgin, or apply vendor-supplied patches to fix the XML parsing memory leak. If upgrade is not feasible, restrict or filter untrusted XML input sources.
- Consultation3.0 h
- Implementation6.0 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 $3,984.
Scan for this in your stack
Free · runs locallyCheck whether your project pulls in CVE-2008-2956 — 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-2008-2956 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
Be the first to add a field note for this CVE — a mitigation you’ve verified, a version caveat, or a link to a working fix. Sign in above to contribute.
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