CVE-2008-4234
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 · uneditedIncomplete blacklist vulnerability in the Quarantine feature in CoreTypes in Apple Mac OS X 10.5 before 10.5.6 allows user-assisted remote attackers to execute arbitrary code via an executable file with the content type indicating no application association for the file, which does not trigger a "potentially unsafe" warning message.
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 confidenceIncomplete blacklist in Mac OS X 10.5 CoreTypes Quarantine feature allows executable files with a content type indicating no application association to bypass the 'potentially unsafe' warning, enabling user-assisted remote code execution.
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<= 10.5.5= 10.5= 10.5.1= 10.5.2= 10.5.3= 10.5.4<= 10.5.5= 10.5= 10.5.1= 10.5.2= 10.5.3= 10.5.4CVSS 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
- M
- Authentication
- None
- Confidentiality
- Complete
- Integrity
- Complete
- Availability
- Complete
AV:N/AC:M/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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Check Mac OS X versionRun 'sw_vers -productVersion' in Terminal or select 'About This Mac' from the Apple menuAffected if The version is 10.5, 10.5.1, 10.5.2, 10.5.3, 10.5.4, or 10.5.5 (anything <= 10.5.5 but not 10.5.6 or later)
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Verify CoreTypes bundle existsCheck for /System/Library/CoreTypes/CoreTypes.bundle using Finder or 'ls -la /System/Library/CoreTypes/' in TerminalAffected if The CoreTypes.bundle exists on the system (required for the vulnerability to apply)
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Confirm Quarantine feature is enabledCheck if /System/Library/CoreServices/CoreTypes.bundle/Contents/Resources/Quarantine.arena exists, or test by downloading a file and inspecting its extended attributes with 'xattr -l <filename>'Affected if The Quarantine feature is active and files receive quarantine extended attributes
If the system runs Mac OS X 10.5 through 10.5.5 and the CoreTypes Quarantine feature is enabled, the environment is affected by this incomplete blacklist vulnerability.
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.
dbcve · scopedUpgrade to Mac OS X 10.5.6 or later to patch the CoreTypes blacklist. For systems that cannot upgrade, implement application control policies to block execution of untrusted downloaded files.
Mac OS X 10.5.6 or later
- Back up all critical data before performing any system update
- Update Mac OS X 10.5.x to version 10.5.6 or later which contains the fixed CoreTypes component with the complete blacklist for the Quarantine feature
Generated from the published advisory — verify against the referenced sources before acting.
- Consultation2.0 h
- Implementation4.0 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-2008-4234 — 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-2008-4234 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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