CVE-2008-5327
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 ClearQuest Maintenance Tool in IBM Rational ClearQuest 7 before 7.1 stores the database password in cleartext in an object in a ClearQuest connection profile or export file, which allows remote authenticated users to obtain sensitive information by locating the password object within the object tree.
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 ClearQuest Maintenance Tool in IBM Rational ClearQuest versions prior to 7.1 stores database passwords in cleartext (unencrypted) within connection profile objects or export files. Any authenticated user with access to the ClearQuest object tree can locate and read these stored passwords, leading to unauthorized database access.
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= 7.0= 7.0.0.0= 7.0.0.1= 7.0.0.2= 7.0.0.3= 7.0.1= 7.0.1.1= 7.0.1.2= 7.0.2CVSS 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
- Single
- Confidentiality
- Partial
- Integrity
- Partial
- Availability
- Partial
AV:N/AC:L/Au:S/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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Identify the installed ClearQuest versionUse the ClearQuest client or CQWeb interface to view the product version information, typically found in Help > About or through the cqversion command-line utilityAffected if The installed version is 7.0, 7.0.0.0, 7.0.0.1, 7.0.0.2, 7.0.1, 7.0.1.1, 7.0.1.2, or 7.0.2 (any version prior to 7.1)
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Locate connection profile objectsAccess the ClearQuest Maintenance Tool or object browser and navigate to connection profile objects stored in the ClearQuest repositoryAffected if Connection profiles exist and are accessible to authenticated users in the object tree
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Inspect connection profile password fieldsOpen connection profile objects and examine any password or credential fields stored within themAffected if Passwords appear as plain text or unencrypted strings rather than masked or encrypted values
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Search for ClearQuest export filesSearch for .csv, .xml, or ClearQuest export files on the server or in shared directories where backup or export data may be storedAffected if Export files contain connection profile data with readable (unencrypted) password values
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Verify ClearQuest Maintenance Tool usageConfirm that the ClearQuest Maintenance Tool has been used to create or modify connection profiles, which is the vulnerable componentAffected if Connection profiles were created or modified using the Maintenance Tool in affected versions
A user is affected if they run any ClearQuest version prior to 7.1 and have connection profiles that store database passwords in an unencrypted (readable text) format accessible through the Maintenance Tool or exported files.
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 IBM Rational ClearQuest version 7.1 or later where passwords are no longer stored in cleartext. Additionally, change any passwords that may have been exposed via this vulnerability.
- Consultation2.0 h
- Implementation3.0 h
- Testing2.0 h
- Review / QA1.0 h
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Free · runs locallyCheck whether your project pulls in CVE-2008-5327 — 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-2008-5327 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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