CVE-2008-5185
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 · uneditedThe highlighting functionality in geshi.php in GeSHi before 1.0.8 allows remote attackers to cause a denial of service (infinite loop) via an XML sequence containing an opening delimiter without a closing delimiter, as demonstrated using "<".
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 confidenceThe highlighting functionality in GeSHi before 1.0.8 contains a denial of service vulnerability where an XML sequence with an opening delimiter (e.g., '<') without a closing delimiter causes an infinite loop. The parser continues searching for a closing delimiter that never arrives, consuming CPU resources until the process is terminated.
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<= 1.0.7.22= 1.0.0= 1.0.1= 1.0.2= 1.0.2_beta_1= 1.0.3= 1.0.4= 1.0.5= 1.0.6= 1.0.7= 1.0.7.1= 1.0.7.2CVSS 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
- None
- Integrity
- None
- Availability
- Partial
AV:N/AC:L/Au:N/C:N/I:N/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.
-
Locate GeSHi installation and determine versionCheck for a geshi.php file or Geshi class file in your application. Open the file and look for a version constant or variable (typically named $version, VERSION, or similar) near the top of the file.Affected if The version number found is 1.0.7.22 or lower, or matches any of these: 1.0.0, 1.0.1, 1.0.2, 1.0.2_beta_1, 1.0.3, 1.0.4, 1.0.5, 1.0.6, 1.0.7, 1.0.7.1, 1.0.7.2
-
Confirm GeSHi highlighting is in useSearch your codebase for include or require statements referencing 'geshi.php' or usage of the 'Geshi' class. Identify where user-supplied or external input is passed to the highlighter's parse() or highlight() method.Affected if Your application uses GeSHi to highlight code submitted by users or fetched from external sources
-
Test for unclosed delimiter behaviorSubmit a test string containing an opening XML delimiter without a closing one (for example: '<unclosed') to the GeSHi highlighting function. Monitor CPU usage or execution time - a vulnerable version will hang or loop indefinitely.Affected if The highlighting process enters an infinite loop or hangs when given input with an unclosed '<' character
-
Inspect source code for missing bounds checkExamine the GeSHi source file (typically geshi.php or a core highlighting file) for the regex or parsing logic that handles XML-like delimiters. Look for loops that search for a closing delimiter without a length or iteration limit.Affected if The code contains a loop that searches for a closing delimiter without proper bounds checking or timeout protection
You are affected if your GeSHi version is 1.0.8 or earlier AND user-supplied or external code containing unclosed XML delimiters can be passed to the highlighter.
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 dataUpgrade to GeSHi 1.0.8 or later, which includes proper bounds checking and delimiter validation to prevent infinite loops. As a temporary workaround, implement input validation to reject or timeout requests containing unclosed XML delimiters.
- Consultation1.0 h
- Implementation2.0 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 $1,424.
Scan for this in your stack
Free · runs locallyCheck whether your project pulls in CVE-2008-5185 — 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-2008-5185 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
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.
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