CVE-2008-4283
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 · uneditedCRLF injection vulnerability in the WebContainer component in IBM WebSphere Application Server (WAS) 5.1.1.19 and earlier 5.1.x versions allows remote attackers to inject arbitrary HTTP headers and conduct HTTP response splitting attacks via unspecified vectors.
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 confidenceCVE-2008-4283 is a CRLF injection vulnerability in the WebContainer component of IBM WebSphere Application Server versions 5.1.1.19 and earlier. This vulnerability allows remote attackers to inject arbitrary HTTP headers, potentially leading to HTTP response splitting attacks.
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<= 5.1.1.19= 5.0= 5.0.0= 5.0.1= 5.0.2= 5.0.2.1= 5.0.2.2= 5.0.2.3= 5.0.2.4= 5.0.2.5= 5.0.2.6= 5.0.2.7CVSS 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
- Complete
- Integrity
- Complete
- Availability
- Complete
AV:N/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 checksWork through these to decide whether this CVE applies to you.
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Identify IBM WebSphere Application Server versionLocate the versionInfo file or check the installed product version. In WebSphere 5.x, this is typically found in the install_root/properties/version directory or can be retrieved using the versionInfo command in the bin directory.Affected if The installed version is 5.1.1.19 or lower, or matches any of these: 5.0, 5.0.0, 5.0.1, 5.0.2, 5.0.2.1, 5.0.2.2, 5.0.2.3, 5.0.2.4, 5.0.2.5, 5.0.2.6, 5.0.2.7
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Verify WebContainer component is in useCheck server.xml or the WebContainer configuration in the WebSphere admin console. The WebContainer is the core servlet engine, so any web application deployment indicates it is active.Affected if WebContainer is enabled and handling HTTP requests, which is the default configuration for WebSphere Application Server
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Confirm HTTP response handling exposureTest by sending a request with CRLF characters in parameters or headers and observe if those characters are reflected unmodified in HTTP response headers.Affected if User-supplied input is reflected in HTTP response headers without sanitization, allowing header injection
A system is affected if it runs IBM WebSphere Application Server version 5.1.1.19 or earlier, or any of the specific 5.0.x versions listed, with the WebContainer component enabled and processing HTTP requests.
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 dataTo remediate this vulnerability, it is essential to upgrade to a patched version of IBM WebSphere Application Server that addresses the CRLF injection issue. Additionally, input validation should be implemented to prevent such injections.
- Consultation4.0 h
- Implementation6.0 h
- Testing4.0 h
- Review / QA2.0 h
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Scan for this in your stack
Free · runs locallyCheck whether your project pulls in CVE-2008-4283 — 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-2008-4283 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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