CVE-2008-5524
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 · uneditedCAT-QuickHeal 10.00 and possibly 9.50, when Internet Explorer 6 or 7 is used, allows remote attackers to bypass detection of malware in an HTML document by placing an MZ header (aka "EXE info") at the beginning, and modifying the filename to have (1) no extension, (2) a .txt extension, or (3) a .jpg extension, as demonstrated by a document containing a CVE-2006-5745 exploit.
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 confidenceCAT-QuickHeal antivirus versions 10.00 and 9.50 can be bypassed by embedding an MZ header (EXE magic bytes) at the beginning of an HTML document and using a misleading file extension (.txt, .jpg, or no extension). This causes the antivirus to misidentify the file type and fail to scan for embedded exploits like CVE-2006-5745.
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= 9.50= 10.00CVSS 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
- M
- Authentication
- None
- Confidentiality
- Complete
- Integrity
- Complete
- Availability
- Complete
AV:N/AC:M/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 checksWork through these to decide whether this CVE applies to you.
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Verify CAT-QuickHeal is installedCheck system for presence of CAT-QuickHeal or QuickHeal antivirus software by reviewing installed programs or running: wmic product get name,version (Windows) or checking Program Files for QuickHeal directoryAffected if CAT-QuickHeal antivirus is found on the system
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Determine installed QuickHeal versionLocate the version information for the installed CAT-QuickHeal product through the antivirus software interface, system information panel, or program's About/Help sectionAffected if Version is 9.50 or 10.00 exactly
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Verify vulnerability to extension-based bypassReview antivirus scan settings to confirm the scanner relies on file extension and magic byte identification rather than content-based analysis for HTML filesAffected if Antivirus uses extension-based or magic-byte-only file type detection without deep content inspection for HTML documents
A system is affected if CAT-QuickHeal version 9.50 or 10.00 is installed and the scanner relies on file extension or magic byte heuristics to identify HTML files rather than performing content-based analysis.
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 dataUpdate to the latest version of CAT-QuickHeal with current virus definitions, or migrate to a modern antivirus solution that performs content-based file analysis rather than relying on file extensions and magic byte heuristics.
- Consultation4.0 h
- Implementation8.0 h
- Testing4.0 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 $5,120.
Scan for this in your stack
Free · runs locallyCheck whether your project pulls in CVE-2008-5524 — 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-2008-5524 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