CVE-2008-3996
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 the Change Data Capture component in Oracle Database 10.1.0.5, 10.2.0.4, and 11.1.0.6 allows remote authenticated users to affect confidentiality and integrity, related to SYS.DBMS_CDC_IPUBLISH.
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 confidenceUnspecified vulnerability in Oracle Database's Change Data Capture (CDC) component, specifically in the SYS.DBMS_CDC_IPUBLISH package. This package handles publishing of change data from source tables. The flaw allows remote authenticated users to impact confidentiality and integrity, likely through improper privilege handling or SQL injection within the CDC publishing functionality.
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= 10.1.0.5= 10.2.0.4= 11.1.0.6CVSS 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
- Single
- Confidentiality
- Partial
- Integrity
- Partial
- Availability
- None
AV:N/AC:L/Au:S/C:P/I:P/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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Identify Oracle Database versionRun SELECT VERSION FROM V$INSTANCE; or look at banner output from SELECT * FROM V$VERSION;Affected if Version matches 10.1.0.5, 10.2.0.4, or 11.1.0.6 (note: source data references '11i' which may be a typo for '11g')
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Confirm Change Data Capture component is installedRun SELECT COMPONENT, STATUS FROM DBA_REGISTRY WHERE COMPONENT LIKE '%Change Data Capture%'; or query DBA_OBJECTS for objects owned by SYS matching 'CDC'Affected if CDC component shows as VALID or EXISTS in the database
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Verify DBMS_CDC_IPUBLISH package existsRun SELECT OBJECT_NAME, OBJECT_TYPE, STATUS FROM DBA_OBJECTS WHERE OBJECT_NAME = 'DBMS_CDC_IPUBLISH' AND OWNER = 'SYS';Affected if Package exists and status is VALID
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Check execute privileges on DBMS_CDC_IPUBLISHRun SELECT GRANTEE, PRIVILEGE, TABLE_NAME FROM DBA_TAB_PRIVS WHERE TABLE_NAME = 'DBMS_CDC_IPUBLISH';Affected if Non-privileged users (beyond SYS and system accounts) have EXECUTE granted
User is affected if running an affected Oracle Database version (10.1.0.5, 10.2.0.4, or 11.1.0.6), CDC component is installed, and DBMS_CDC_IPUBLISH package exists with potentially overly-granted execute privileges to non-administrator users.
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 dataApply the relevant Oracle Critical Patch Update (CPU) for October 2008 or later, which addresses this CVE. If CDC is not required in production, consider revoking execute privileges on DBMS_CDC_IPUBLISH from non-essential users until the patch can be applied.
- Consultation2.0 h
- Implementation4.0 h
- Testing4.0 h
- Review / QA2.0 h
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Free · runs locallyCheck whether your project pulls in CVE-2008-3996 — 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-2008-3996 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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