Metaframe Presentation ServerApplication · Citrix
CVE-2008-3485
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 · uneditedUntrusted search path vulnerability in Citrix MetaFrame Presentation Server allows local users to gain privileges via a malicious icabar.exe placed in the search path.
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 confidenceCitrix MetaFrame Presentation Server contains an untrusted search path vulnerability where the application searches for icabar.exe in directories writable by local users before checking secure locations. Attackers can place a malicious icabar.exe in a directory that precedes the legitimate location in the search path, causing the server to execute their code with elevated privileges.
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
Metaframe Presentation ServerApplication
<= 3.0
XpApplication
<= 1.0CVSS 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
- Local
- Complexity
- Low
- Authentication
- None
- Confidentiality
- Complete
- Integrity
- Complete
- Availability
- Complete
AV:L/AC:L/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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Identify Citrix product installationCheck the Windows registry under HKLM\SOFTWARE\Citrix or look for Citrix installation directories (typically C:\Program Files\Citrix). Use 'reg query HKLM\SOFTWARE\Citrix' or inspect Add/Remove Programs for MetaFrame Presentation Server or Citrix XP.Affected if Citrix MetaFrame Presentation Server version 3.0 or lower, or Citrix XP version 1.0 or lower is installed
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Examine system PATH for writable directoriesOpen Command Prompt and run 'echo %PATH%' to display the PATH environment variable. For each directory in the PATH, check permissions by right-clicking the folder in Windows Explorer, going to Properties, Security tab, and verifying if 'Users' or 'Everyone' group has 'Write' permission.Affected if Any directory listed in the system PATH grants write permissions to non-admin users (world-writable)
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Locate icabar.exe on the systemSearch for all instances of icabar.exe on the system using 'dir /s C:\icabar.exe' or use Windows Search. Note the full path of each occurrence.Affected if Multiple copies of icabar.exe exist in different directories, with at least one in a directory that appears earlier in the PATH than the legitimate Citrix installation directory
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Verify execution orderFrom Command Prompt, run 'where icabar.exe' to see which icabar.exe would be executed first based on current PATH order. Compare this to the legitimate Citrix bin directory (typically C:\Program Files\Citrix\MetaFrame Presentation Server\bin or similar).Affected if The first icabar.exe found by the PATH search is in a user-writable directory rather than the official Citrix bin directory
You are affected if Citrix MetaFrame Presentation Server <= 3.0 or Citrix XP <= 1.0 is installed AND the system PATH contains a world-writable directory that appears before the legitimate Citrix bin directory AND a copy of icabar.exe exists in that writable location.
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 dataRemove world-writable directories from the system PATH, ensure Citrix binaries are executed using absolute paths, and apply vendor patches for Citrix MetaFrame Presentation Server.
Fix this in Metaframe Presentation Server
Scoped from the published advisory
- Consultation4.0 h
- Implementation8.0 h
- Testing4.0 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 $5,120.
Scan for this in your stack
Free · runs locallyCheck whether your project pulls in CVE-2008-3485 — 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-2008-3485 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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- 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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