CVE-2008-5527
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 · uneditedESET Smart Security, 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 · moderate confidenceESET Smart Security fails to detect malware embedded in HTML documents when certain conditions are met: placing an MZ header (EXE file signature) at the beginning of the HTML file and naming the file with no extension, a .txt extension, or a .jpg extension. This causes the antivirus to not scan the embedded malicious content, allowing exploits like CVE-2006-5745 to execute undetected.
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= 3.0CVSS 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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Confirm ESET Smart Security is installedCheck for ESET Smart Security in the system by looking in Add/Remove Programs (Windows) or by checking for ESET processes running in Task ManagerAffected if ESET Smart Security version 3.0 is installed on the system
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Identify the installed versionOpen ESET Smart Security and navigate to Help > About, or run the command eset_version.exe if available, or check the program version in Add/Remove ProgramsAffected if The installed version is ESET Smart Security 3.0
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Verify the specific vulnerability conditionThis vulnerability affects version 3.0 specifically when handling HTML files that begin with an MZ header (EXE signature) and have no extension, .txt, or .jpg extension - the antivirus skips scanning these filesAffected if Running ESET Smart Security version 3.0 means the detection bypass applies to your environment
If ESET Smart Security version 3.0 is installed, the environment is affected by this vulnerability where the antivirus fails to scan malware-embedded HTML files with certain extensions or no extension.
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 ESET Smart Security to the latest version that addresses this detection bypass; avoid opening untrusted HTML files or files from unknown sources, and implement additional endpoint protection layers.
- Consultation2.0 h
- Testing3.0 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 $1,648.
Scan for this in your stack
Free · runs locallyCheck whether your project pulls in CVE-2008-5527 — 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-2008-5527 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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