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Linux KernelOperating system · Linux

CVE-2008-5134

HIGH · 10.0 CVSS v2.0 Published 2008-11-18
Fix available
A fix is available. Upgrade to after 2.6.27.4 or later.
See remediation →
100/100
Remediation priority · Urgent
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
Buffer overflow in the lbs_process_bss function in drivers/net/wireless/libertas/scan.c in the libertas subsystem in the Linux kernel before 2.6.27.5 allows remote attackers to have an unknown impact via an "invalid beacon/probe response."

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

Buffer overflow in the lbs_process_bss function in the libertas wireless driver (drivers/net/wireless/libertas/scan.c) allows remote attackers to cause unspecified impact by sending malformed beacon/probe response frames. The vulnerability lacks proper bounds checking when processing BSS information from wireless access points.

MitigationUpdate Linux kernel to version 2.6.27.5 or later which contains the patched bounds checking in the libertas driver scan.c file. For systems unable to upgrade, consider disabling the libertas wireless driver or implementing network-level access controls to limit exposure to malicious beacon/probe responses.

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
Linux KernelOperating system
Affected:<= 2.6.27.4= 2.6.0= 2.6.1= 2.6.2= 2.6.3= 2.6.4= 2.6.5= 2.6.6= 2.6.7= 2.6.8= 2.6.8.1= 2.6.9

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
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 checks

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

  1. Check kernel version
    Run 'uname -r' or 'cat /proc/version' to determine the running kernel version
    Affected if The kernel version is 2.6.27.4 or earlier, or matches any of the affected versions 2.6.0 through 2.6.9 listed in the CVE
  2. Verify libertas driver is present
    Run 'lsmod | grep -i libertas' or check 'ls /sys/module/ | grep -i libertas' to see if the libertas wireless driver module is loaded
    Affected if The libertas driver module is loaded on the system
  3. Check for active wireless interfaces using libertas
    Run 'iwconfig' or check 'ls /sys/class/net/' and examine wireless device drivers to see if any interface is using the libertas driver
    Affected if A wireless network interface is actively using the libertas driver

The system is affected if it runs a vulnerable kernel version (2.6.27.4 or earlier, or 2.6.0-2.6.9) AND has the libertas wireless driver loaded and active with a wireless interface in use.

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.

dbcve · scoped
Upgrade available Upgrade to a release after 2.6.27.4
Interim mitigation

Update Linux kernel to version 2.6.27.5 or later which contains the patched bounds checking in the libertas driver scan.c file. For systems unable to upgrade, consider disabling the libertas wireless driver or implementing network-level access controls to limit exposure to malicious beacon/probe responses.

Recommended fix High confidence

Linux Kernel 2.6.27.5 or later

  1. 1. Check current kernel version using 'uname -r' to confirm the system is running an affected version (< 2.6.27.5)
  2. 2. Obtain Linux kernel version 2.6.27.5 or later from your distribution's package repository or kernel.org
  3. 3. Apply the kernel upgrade using your distribution's standard package manager (e.g., 'apt-get install linux-image-2.6.27-5' for Debian/Ubuntu, 'yum update kernel' for RHEL/CentOS, or 'zypper update kernel-default' for SUSE)
  4. 4. Update bootloader configuration if necessary to ensure the new kernel boots by default
  5. 5. Reboot the system to load the fixed kernel version
  6. 6. Verify the new kernel version is running with 'uname -r'
Caveat Kernel upgrades may require recompiling out-of-tree modules and could introduce compatibility changes with older drivers or hardware; this is an older kernel series and may require significant system preparation

Generated from the published advisory — verify against the referenced sources before acting.

Fix this in Linux Kernel Scoped from the published advisory
  • Consultation4.0 h
  • Implementation8.0 h
  • Testing6.0 h
  • Review / QA2.0 h
20.0 hours of engineering $3,500
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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-2008-5134 in production — separate from our analysis above.

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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