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OpenvmsOperating system · Hp

CVE-2008-3947

HIGH · 7.2 CVSS v2.0 Published 2008-09-05
Mitigation only
No fix yet — a mitigation exists. There is no fixed release. A documented workaround reduces exposure in the meantime.
See remediation →
77/100
Remediation priority · High
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
DCL (aka the CLI) in OpenVMS Alpha 8.3 allows local users to gain privileges via a long command line.

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 confidence

The DCL (Digital Command Language) command-line interpreter in OpenVMS Alpha 8.3 contains a vulnerability that allows local users to escalate privileges by providing an overly long command line argument. This is a local privilege escalation flaw with low attack complexity.

MitigationApply vendor-supplied patches for OpenVMS Alpha 8.3. If patches are unavailable, restrict local shell access to untrusted users and monitor for suspicious command usage patterns.

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
OpenvmsOperating system
Affected:= 8.3

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
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 checks

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

  1. Identify the OpenVMS version
    Run `SHOW SYSTEM` or `SHOW VERSION` at the DCL prompt ($) to display the operating system version
    Affected if The output shows version 8.3 on an Alpha platform
  2. Confirm the system architecture
    Check if the system is Alpha (not Itanium) by examining the hardware platform information from `SHOW CPU` or system documentation
    Affected if The system is running on Alpha hardware with OpenVMS 8.3
  3. Verify local user access to DCL
    Confirm that local unprivileged users can access the DCL command interpreter by attempting to log in or access a local account
    Affected if Local users have shell access to DCL (the default command interpreter)
  4. Check for existing privilege escalation indicators
    Review system logs and audit records for any unexpected privilege changes or execution of privileged commands by non-administrative users
    Affected if Unprivileged users have gained elevated privileges or access to privileged command sets

If the system is OpenVMS Alpha version 8.3 and local users have access to the DCL interpreter, the environment is potentially affected by this privilege escalation vulnerability.

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 vendor-supplied patches for OpenVMS Alpha 8.3. If patches are unavailable, restrict local shell access to untrusted users and monitor for suspicious command usage patterns.

Fix this in Openvms Scoped from the published advisory
  • Consultation4.0 h
  • Implementation8.0 h
  • Testing8.0 h
  • Review / QA4.0 h
24.0 hours of engineering $4,160
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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-2008-3947 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