CVE-2008-4199
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 · uneditedOpera before 9.52 does not prevent use of links from web pages to feed source files on the local disk, which might allow remote attackers to determine the validity of local filenames via vectors involving "detection of JavaScript events and appropriate manipulation."
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 confidenceOpera before 9.52 failed to restrict links from web pages to feed source files on the local disk, allowing remote attackers to probe for valid local filenames by creating links to suspected file paths and detecting JavaScript events that indicate whether the target file exists.
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<= 9.51= 5.0= 5.02= 5.10= 5.11= 5.12= 6.0= 6.1= 6.01= 6.02= 6.03= 6.04CVSS 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
- Partial
- Integrity
- None
- Availability
- None
AV:N/AC:L/Au:N/C:P/I:N/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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Locate Opera browser installationSearch common installation paths (e.g., C:\Program Files\Opera\opera.exe, C:\Program Files (x86)\Opera\opera.exe, ~/.opera/opera on Linux) or use system search commands to find the opera executableAffected if Opera browser is found on the system
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Determine installed Opera versionRight-click the opera.exe file and select Properties, then view the Version tab; or run 'opera --version' from command line if availableAffected if The version displayed is 9.51 or lower, or matches one of: 5.0, 5.02, 5.10, 5.11, 5.12, 6.0, 6.1, 6.01, 6.02, 6.03, 6.04
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Verify JavaScript is enabledOpen Opera, go to Settings > Preferences > Advanced > Content and check if JavaScript is enabled, or inspect the opera6.ini configuration file for JavaScript settingsAffected if JavaScript is enabled in the browser settings (required for the attack to detect file existence via events)
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Confirm local file access is permittedCheck Opera settings for allowing access to local files from web pages (Settings > Preferences > Security > Enable 'Allow pages to open windows without name' and related local file access options)Affected if The browser permits web pages to access local file:// URLs or feed source files
A user is affected if they have Opera version 9.51 or below (or specifically versions 5.0-6.04) installed with JavaScript enabled, as this combination allows remote probing of local filenames through malicious web pages.
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 to Opera 9.52 or later, or migrate to a modern supported browser that has addressed similar local file enumeration risks.
- Consultation1.0 h
- Implementation1.0 h
- Testing2.0 h
- Review / QA1.0 h
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Scan for this in your stack
Free · runs locallyCheck whether your project pulls in CVE-2008-4199 — 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-2008-4199 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
- No spam, self-promotion, credentials, or personal data