dbcve.org
MercurialApplication

CVE-2008-4297

MEDIUM · 5.0 CVSS v2.0 Published 2008-09-27
Fix available
A fix is available. Upgrade to after 1.0.1 or later.
See remediation →
59/100
Remediation priority · Elevated
Remotely reachable No privileges Zero-click

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 · unedited
Mercurial before 1.0.2 does not enforce the allowpull permission setting for a pull operation from hgweb, which allows remote attackers to read arbitrary files from a repository via an "hg pull" request.

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 confidence

Mercurial before 1.0.2 fails to enforce the allowpull permission setting in hgweb, allowing unauthenticated remote attackers to read arbitrary files from the repository via an 'hg pull' request. This is an authorization bypass vulnerability in the web interface.

MitigationUpgrade Mercurial to version 1.0.2 or later. Alternatively, restrict network access to the hgweb interface using firewall rules or authentication mechanisms until the upgrade can be applied.

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
MercurialApplication
Affected:<= 1.0.1

CVSS 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 checks

Work through these to decide whether this CVE applies to you.

  1. Determine installed Mercurial version
    Run 'hg --version' or 'hg version' to obtain the installed Mercurial version number
    Affected if The version displayed is 1.0.1 or earlier (any version <= 1.0.1)
  2. Confirm hgweb interface is configured
    Check for hgweb configuration files such as hgweb.config, .hg/hgrc, or the presence of a CGI script invoking hgweb
    Affected if hgweb is configured and accessible (the vulnerability only affects the hgweb interface)
  3. Inspect allowpull permission setting
    Examine the hgweb configuration file for the 'allowpull' directive under the [web] section
    Affected if allowpull is set to 'true' or a wildcard (the vulnerability allows bypass when allowpull should restrict access)
  4. Check network accessibility of hgweb
    Determine if the hgweb CGI script is exposed to network connections or the public internet
    Affected if hgweb is reachable over the network without authentication (remote attackers need network access to exploit the flaw)

You are affected if you run Mercurial version 1.0.1 or earlier with hgweb exposed to the network and allowpull permission not properly enforced.

Generated from the published advisory. Verify against your own configuration.

Check your environment

Paste your version and any relevant configuration and it will be compared against the affected criteria above. Do not include secrets or credentials.

AI-assisted, checked against the advisory. Informational, not a guarantee.

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 data
Upgrade available Upgrade to a release after 1.0.1
Interim mitigation

Upgrade Mercurial to version 1.0.2 or later. Alternatively, restrict network access to the hgweb interface using firewall rules or authentication mechanisms until the upgrade can be applied.

Fix this in Mercurial Scoped from the published advisory
  • Consultation3.0 h
  • Implementation4.0 h
  • Testing2.0 h
  • Review / QA1.0 h
10.0 hours of engineering $1,800
Get the upgrade done

An estimate, not a bill — we confirm scope with you before any work starts. Need it this week? Rush from $2,880.

Scan for this in your stack

Free · runs locally
dbcve dependency scanner

Check whether your project pulls in CVE-2008-4297 — or any other known-vulnerable package — straight from your lock files. Free and open source; it runs locally and uploads nothing.

Get it on GitHub Scan in the browser

References Go to the primary sourcePrimary sources — vendor advisories, patches and trackers. Where our summary and a reference disagree, the reference wins.

Primary sources

Practitioner notes

Contributed

Peer-ranked notes from engineers who’ve handled CVE-2008-4297 in production — separate from our analysis above.

No notes yet

Be the first to add a field note for this CVE — a mitigation you’ve verified, a version caveat, or a link to a working fix. Sign in above to contribute.

What this is

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.

What belongs here
  • 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