CVE-2008-4512
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 · uneditedASP/MS Access Shoutbox, probably 1.1 beta, stores db/shoutdb.mdb under the web root with insufficient access control, which allows remote attackers to obtain sensitive information via a direct 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 confidenceThe ASP/MS Access Shoutbox application stores its MS Access database file (shoutdb.mdb) within the web root directory without proper access controls. This allows remote attackers to directly download the entire database file via a web request, potentially exposing sensitive user data, configuration details, or other application information stored in the database.
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= 1.1CVSS 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 the shoutbox database fileSearch the web server's document root directories for a file named shoutdb.mdb or shoutbox.mdb, commonly found in db/ or data/ subdirectories.Affected if The database file exists within any web-accessible directory.
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Test direct HTTP access to the databaseUsing a web browser or curl command, attempt to directly request the .mdb file via HTTP (e.g., http://yourserver/path/to/db/shoutdb.mdb).Affected if The file downloads or displays without HTTP 403/404 errors, indicating the web server serves it directly.
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Verify database location relative to web rootCompare the database file's filesystem path to the web server's document root. Check if the file resides inside the web root directory tree.Affected if The database file path falls under the web root directory accessible via HTTP.
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Inspect web server access controlsReview web server configuration (IIS web.config, Apache .htaccess) for the directory containing the database file. Check for explicit allow/deny rules.Affected if No access control rules exist or rules allow public read access to the db/ directory.
The environment is affected if the shoutdb.mdb database file is stored within the web root and can be directly downloaded via HTTP without authentication or access restrictions.
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 dataMove the database file outside the web root directory (to a location not directly accessible via HTTP) and update the application configuration to reference the new path. Alternatively, configure web server access controls to deny direct HTTP requests to the db/ directory.
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- Implementation1.0 h
- Testing2.0 h
- Review / QA1.0 h
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Free · runs locallyCheck whether your project pulls in CVE-2008-4512 — 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-2008-4512 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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