CVE-2008-3078
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 · uneditedOpera before 9.51 does not properly manage memory within functions supporting the CANVAS element, which allows remote attackers to read uninitialized memory contents by using JavaScript to read a canvas image.
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 confidenceOpera before version 9.51 contains a memory management flaw in functions supporting the HTML5 CANVAS element. When JavaScript reads canvas image data, the browser fails to properly initialize memory buffers, allowing uninitialized memory contents to be read and potentially leaked to attackers.
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<= 9.50= 1.00= 2.00= 2.10= 2.12= 3.00= 3.10= 3.21= 3.50= 3.51= 3.60= 3.61CVSS 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
- Complete
- Integrity
- None
- Availability
- None
AV:N/AC:L/Au:N/C:C/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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Check installed Opera versionOpen Opera and navigate to Help > About Opera, or type 'opera:version' in the address bar to display the browser versionAffected if The version is 9.50 or lower, or matches any of these specific versions: 1.00, 2.00, 2.10, 2.12, 3.00, 3.10, 3.21, 3.50, 3.51, 3.60, or 3.61
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Verify JavaScript is enabledCheck if JavaScript is enabled in Opera settings (Preferences > Advanced > Content), as the vulnerability is triggered through JavaScript canvas accessAffected if JavaScript is enabled and the browser version is affected (this is required for the exploit to function)
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Confirm CANVAS support is presentCANVAS support is built into affected Opera versions; verify by attempting to load a page containing a <canvas> element, or check that the browser successfully renders HTML5 contentAffected if The browser renders HTML5 CANVAS elements and is one of the affected versions listed
You are affected if you are running Opera version 9.50 or lower (or any of the specific versions 1.00 through 3.61) with JavaScript enabled, and the browser renders HTML5 CANVAS content that could be read via the getImageData() API.
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 Opera to version 9.51 or later; in modern deployments, migrate to a currently supported browser version (Opera 12+ or Chromium-based Opera) to address this and other historical vulnerabilities.
- Consultation2.0 h
- Implementation1.0 h
- Testing1.0 h
- Review / QA1.0 h
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Scan for this in your stack
Free · runs locallyCheck whether your project pulls in CVE-2008-3078 — 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-2008-3078 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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