OpenvpnApplication
CVE-2008-3459
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 · uneditedUnspecified vulnerability in OpenVPN 2.1-beta14 through 2.1-rc8, when running on non-Windows systems, allows remote servers to execute arbitrary commands via crafted (1) lladdr and (2) iproute configuration directives, probably related to shell metacharacters.
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 confidenceOpenVPN 2.1-beta14 through 2.1-rc8 on non-Windows systems contains a command injection vulnerability in the lladdr and iproute configuration directives. When a remote VPN server sends crafted configuration containing shell metacharacters, the client can be induced to execute arbitrary commands on the local system.
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
OpenvpnApplication
= 2.1CVSS 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
- High
- Authentication
- None
- Confidentiality
- Complete
- Integrity
- Complete
- Availability
- Complete
AV:N/AC:H/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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Check installed OpenVPN versionRun 'openvpn --version' or 'openvpn -v' to display the version informationAffected if Version is 2.1-beta14 through 2.1-rc8 (including beta14, beta15, beta16, beta17, beta18, beta19, beta20, rc1, rc2, rc3, rc4, rc5, rc6, rc7, rc8)
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Confirm operating system is non-WindowsRun 'uname -s' or check system documentation to identify the OSAffected if System is Linux, macOS, FreeBSD, or other Unix-like OS (Windows is not affected)
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Locate OpenVPN configuration filesSearch for .ovpn or .conf files in /etc/openvpn/, ~/, and other configuration directoriesAffected if No configuration files found means the vulnerability cannot be triggered in this environment
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Inspect configs for lladdr directiveGrep for 'lladdr' in all OpenVPN configuration files using: grep -r 'lladdr' /etc/openvpn/ ~/*.ovpn ~/*.conf 2>/dev/nullAffected if The lladdr directive is present in any active VPN configuration
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Inspect configs for iproute directiveGrep for 'iproute' or 'ip route' in all OpenVPN configuration files using: grep -r -E 'iproute|ip.*route' /etc/openvpn/ ~/*.ovpn ~/*.conf 2>/dev/nullAffected if The iproute directive is present in any active VPN configuration
Affected if OpenVPN version is between 2.1-beta14 and 2.1-rc8 inclusive, running on a non-Windows system, AND the configuration uses either the lladdr or iproute directive.
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 OpenVPN to version 2.1 stable or later, which contains the fix for this vulnerability. Until patched, only connect to trusted VPN servers and consider implementing network segmentation controls.
Fix this in Openvpn
Scoped from the published advisory
- Consultation2.0 h
- Implementation4.0 h
- Testing3.0 h
- Review / QA1.0 h
An estimate, not a bill — we confirm scope with you before any work starts. Need it this week? Rush from $2,800.
Scan for this in your stack
Free · runs locallyCheck whether your project pulls in CVE-2008-3459 — 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-2008-3459 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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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
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