CVE-2008-5545
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 · uneditedTrend Micro VSAPI 8.700.0.1004 in Trend Micro AntiVirus, 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 confidenceTrend Micro VSAPI 8.700.0.1004 antivirus engine fails to detect malware embedded in HTML documents when the file contains an MZ header (Windows executable marker) at the beginning combined with a modified or missing file extension (.txt, .jpg, or no extension). This allows malicious HTML documents containing exploits like CVE-2006-5745 to bypass antivirus scanning.
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= 8.700.0.1004CVSS 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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Check Trend Micro antivirus engine versionOpen the Trend Micro antivirus console or use the command line tool (typically 'tmdiag -v' or check via the GUI: Help > About) to identify the VSAPI engine version numberAffected if The displayed VSAPI engine version is exactly 8.700.0.1004
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Verify HTML scanning is enabledCheck the real-time scanning or on-access scanning settings in the Trend Micro console to confirm that HTML file scanning is enabledAffected if HTML scanning is enabled and the engine version is 8.700.0.1004 (the vulnerability bypasses enabled scanning)
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Confirm the file type detection configurationInspect the scan engine configuration for file type detection settings, particularly whether the engine relies on file extension versus content-type inspection for HTML filesAffected if The engine is configured to use file extension as the primary detection method rather than content inspection
You are affected if the installed Trend Micro VSAPI engine version is exactly 8.700.0.1004 and HTML document scanning is enabled, as the engine will fail to inspect HTML content with embedded MZ headers.
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 Trend Micro AntiVirus to a version where VSAPI properly inspects HTML content regardless of file extension or embedded MZ headers. Ensure antivirus definitions are current and consider additional email/web gateway scanning as a defense-in-depth measure.
- Consultation1.0 h
- Implementation2.0 h
- Testing2.0 h
- Review / QA1.0 h
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Scan for this in your stack
Free · runs locallyCheck whether your project pulls in CVE-2008-5545 — 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-2008-5545 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