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Db2 Universal DatabaseDatabase / datastore · Ibm

CVE-2008-3960

MEDIUM · 5.0 CVSS v2.0 Published 2008-09-11
Fix available
A fix is available. Upgrade to after 8.2 or later.
See remediation →
59/100
Remediation priority · Elevated
Remotely reachable 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
Unspecified vulnerability in the JDBC Applet Server Service (aka db2jds) in IBM DB2 UDB 8 before Fixpak 17 allows remote attackers to cause a denial of service (service crash) via "malicious packets."

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 · moderate confidence

A remote denial-of-service vulnerability in the JDBC Applet Server Service (db2jds) in IBM DB2 UDB version 8 prior to Fixpak 17 allows remote attackers to crash the service via malicious packets. The vulnerability is in a network-facing DB2 component that handles JDBC applet connections.

MitigationUpgrade IBM DB2 UDB to Fixpak 17 or later to resolve the vulnerability. Consider network segmentation to limit exposure of the db2jds service to untrusted networks until the patch can be applied.

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
Db2 Universal DatabaseDatabase / datastore
Affected:<= 8.2= 8.2

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
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 checks

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

  1. Identify if DB2 UDB version 8 is installed
    Run 'db2level' or check the DB2 installation directory for version 8 binaries
    Affected if The installed version is DB2 UDB version 8.x (8.2 or earlier)
  2. Determine the installed Fixpak level
    Run 'db2level' and examine the Fixpak version number displayed in the output
    Affected if The Fixpak version is earlier than Fixpak 17 (for example, Fixpak 16 or below)
  3. Verify if the db2jds service is running and network-exposed
    Check if the JDBC Applet Server Service (db2jds) process is running on the DB2 server and listening on network ports
    Affected if The db2jds process is active and bound to network interfaces accessible from untrusted networks
  4. Confirm JDBC applet support is enabled
    Examine the DB2 configuration for JDBC applet server settings, typically via 'db2 get dbm cfg' or checking for JDBC applet connection listeners
    Affected if JDBC applet server functionality is enabled and listening for incoming connections

A user is affected if they run DB2 UDB version 8 with a Fixpak level below 17 and have the db2jds JDBC Applet Server Service exposed on the network.

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
Upgrade available Upgrade to a release after 8.2
Interim mitigation

Upgrade IBM DB2 UDB to Fixpak 17 or later to resolve the vulnerability. Consider network segmentation to limit exposure of the db2jds service to untrusted networks until the patch can be applied.

Fix this in Db2 Universal Database Scoped from the published advisory
  • Consultation2.0 h
  • Implementation4.0 h
  • Testing3.0 h
  • Review / QA2.0 h
11.0 hours of engineering $1,930
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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-2008-3960 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