CVE-2008-4293
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 Opera before 9.52 on Windows, when registered as a protocol handler, allows remote attackers to cause a denial of service (crash) and possibly execute arbitrary code via unknown vectors in which Opera is launched by other applications.
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 Opera browser versions before 9.52 on Windows when registered as a protocol handler allows remote attackers to potentially execute arbitrary code or cause denial of service when Opera is launched by other applications.
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..10= 5.0= 5.1= 5.2= 5.3= 5.4= 5.5= 5.6= 5.7= 5.8= 5.9CVSS 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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Check installed Opera version on WindowsOpen Opera, go to Help > About Opera, or run 'opera.exe -version' from command line, or check Program Files folder for opera.exe and view propertiesAffected if Version displayed is 9.51 or lower (versions before 9.52)
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Confirm Windows platformVerify the operating system is Windows by checking System Properties or running 'systeminfo' commandAffected if Running on Windows operating system (vulnerability only affects Windows)
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Check if Opera is registered as protocol handlerOpen Windows Registry Editor (regedit), navigate to HKEY_CLASSES_ROOT\Opera.HTML or HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Classes\Opera.HTML, or check for protocol entries like 'opera:' in the registryAffected if Registry contains Opera protocol handler entries (indicates Opera is registered to handle specific URL schemes)
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Check if Opera handles external protocol launchesLook in Registry under HKEY_CLASSES_ROOT\PROTOCOLS\Handler\ for any opera-related entries, or check default applications settings in Windows Control PanelAffected if Opera is set as default handler for any protocols (enables attack vector when other applications launch Opera)
User is affected if running Opera version 9.51 or earlier on Windows AND Opera is registered as a protocol handler, allowing other applications to launch it via registered protocols
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 Opera to version 9.52 or later; if the affected version cannot be upgraded, migrate to a currently supported browser as Opera 9.x is obsolete.
Opera 9.52 or later
- 1. Check current Opera version by opening Opera and navigating to Help > About Opera
- 2. If the installed version is 9.51 or earlier on Windows, download Opera 9.52 or later from the official Opera website (www.opera.com)
- 3. Close all running Opera instances
- 4. Install the downloaded Opera 9.52 or later version
- 5. Restart Opera and verify the version in Help > About Opera
Generated from the published advisory — verify against the referenced sources before acting.
- Consultation1.0 h
- Implementation1.0 h
- Testing1.0 h
- Review / QA1.0 h
An estimate, not a bill — we confirm scope with you before any work starts. Need it this week? Rush from $1,200.
Scan for this in your stack
Free · runs locallyCheck whether your project pulls in CVE-2008-4293 — 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-2008-4293 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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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.
- 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