CVE-2008-6059
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 · uneditedxml/XMLHttpRequest.cpp in WebCore in WebKit before r38566 does not properly restrict access from web pages to the (1) Set-Cookie and (2) Set-Cookie2 HTTP response headers, which allows remote attackers to obtain sensitive information from cookies via XMLHttpRequest calls, related to the HTTPOnly protection mechanism.
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 confidenceWebKit's XMLHttpRequest implementation before r38566 incorrectly allowed JavaScript to read Set-Cookie and Set-Cookie2 HTTP response headers via XMLHttpRequest, bypassing the HTTPOnly cookie protection mechanism and enabling theft of HTTP-only cookies by malicious web pages.
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 dataall versionsCVSS 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
- Partial
- Integrity
- None
- Availability
- None
AV:N/AC:L/Au:N/C:P/I:N/A:N
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 WebKit versionCheck the browser or application's version information (Help > About, or inspect the user agent string for WebKit version number)Affected if The version is any build prior to r38566 or the version cannot be determined
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Confirm WebKit is the rendering engineExamine the user agent string or application details to verify WebKit is being usedAffected if WebKit is used as the browser/engine and version is not confirmed as r38566 or later
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Determine if XMLHttpRequest is accessibleIn a web context, check if pages use XMLHttpRequest or fetch APIs by reviewing page source or network activityAffected if XMLHttpRequest is available and in use in the application
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Check if HTTPOnly cookies are in useReview application cookie configurations or security headers to see if HttpOnly flag is set on session cookiesAffected if The application relies on HTTPOnly cookies for session security and WebKit version is unpatched
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Verify the Set-Cookie header access vulnerabilityUse a test page with XMLHttpRequest to attempt reading Set-Cookie headers from a response - if headers are readable via getResponseHeader('Set-Cookie'), the vulnerability existsAffected if XMLHttpRequest can read Set-Cookie or Set-Cookie2 headers, bypassing HTTPOnly protection
The environment is affected if it uses a WebKit-based browser or component with version prior to r38566 and the application uses XMLHttpRequest alongside HTTPOnly cookies for security.
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 WebKit-based applications or browsers to version r38566 or later which properly restricts access to Set-Cookie headers; legacy systems using affected WebKit versions should be identified and updated.
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- Testing1.0 h
- Review / QA1.0 h
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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-2008-6059 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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