CVE-2008-4515
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 · uneditedBlue Coat K9 Web Protection 4.0.230 Beta relies on client-side JavaScript as a protection mechanism, which allows remote attackers to bypass authentication and access the (1) summary, (2) detail, (3) overrides, and (4) pwemail pages by disabling JavaScript.
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 confidenceBlue Coat K9 Web Protection 4.0.230 Beta uses client-side JavaScript to protect authentication on the summary, detail, overrides, and pwemail admin pages. Attackers can bypass this by simply disabling JavaScript in their browser, allowing unauthorized access to these sensitive admin functions.
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= 4.0.230CVSS 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
- Partial
- Availability
- Partial
AV:N/AC:L/Au:N/C:P/I:P/A:P
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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Confirm K9 Web Protection installationCheck if Blue Coat K9 Web Protection software is installed on the system by looking for the application in installed programs (Windows) or package manager (Linux).Affected if K9 Web Protection is not installed on the system.
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Identify installed versionLocate the installed version number of K9 Web Protection. On Windows, check Add/Remove Programs or the program's About/Help section. The affected version is exactly 4.0.230.Affected if The installed version is 4.0.230 (the Beta version specifically listed in affected versions).
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Access admin web interfaceOpen a web browser and attempt to reach the K9 admin interface (typically at https://127.0.0.1:2372 or similar local address). Navigate to the summary, detail, overrides, or pwemail admin pages.Affected if The admin web interface is accessible and these specific admin pages exist.
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Verify JavaScript dependency for authenticationDisable JavaScript in the browser settings, then attempt to access the admin pages (summary, detail, overrides, pwemail). If authentication succeeds without JavaScript, the vulnerability is present.Affected if Authentication or access to admin pages succeeds with JavaScript disabled, confirming client-side-only auth is being used.
The environment is affected if K9 Web Protection version 4.0.230 is installed and the admin pages are accessible using client-side JavaScript authentication that can be bypassed by disabling JavaScript in the browser.
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 dataReplace client-side JavaScript authentication with proper server-side session validation and authorization checks for all protected pages.
- Consultation3.0 h
- Implementation6.0 h
- Testing3.0 h
- Review / QA2.0 h
An estimate, not a bill — we confirm scope with you before any work starts. Need it this week? Rush from $3,984.
Scan for this in your stack
Free · runs locallyCheck whether your project pulls in CVE-2008-4515 — 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-2008-4515 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
- No spam, self-promotion, credentials, or personal data