CVE-2008-6576
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 · uneditedUnspecified vulnerability in the "session limitation technique" in the FTP service on Nortel Communications Server 1000 (CS1K) 4.50.x, when running on VGMC or signaling nodes, allows remote attackers to cause a denial of service (resource exhaustion and failed updates) via unknown vectors that causes consumption of all available sessions.
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 confidenceThe FTP service in Nortel Communications Server 1000 (CS1K) versions 4.50.x contains an unspecified vulnerability in its session limitation mechanism. When running on VGMC or signaling nodes, remote attackers can send unknown vectors that bypass session controls, consuming all available sessions and causing resource exhaustion and failed updates, resulting in denial of service.
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= 4.50CVSS 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
- None
- Integrity
- None
- Availability
- Complete
AV:N/AC:L/Au:N/C:N/I:N/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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Identify the installed Nortel CS1K versionAccess the system management interface or use the command-line to retrieve the firmware/software version of the Nortel Communications Server 1000. Look for a version string in the 4.50.x format.Affected if The installed version is 4.50, 4.50.0, 4.50.1, 4.50.2, or any other 4.50.x variant.
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Confirm the FTP service is enabledCheck running services or daemon status on the CS1K system to determine if the FTP service is actively listening. Use netstat or similar tool to check if port 21 (FTP) is open and bound to a service.Affected if The FTP service is running and port 21 is in a listening state.
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Determine if the node type is VGMC or signalingAccess the system configuration or node role settings to identify whether this particular unit is functioning as a VGMC (Voice Gateway Media Controller) or a signaling node within the CS1K architecture.Affected if The system is configured as a VGMC or a signaling node role.
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Assess network accessibility of the FTP serviceFrom an external network perspective, verify whether port 21 is reachable. Use network scanning tools to test FTP port accessibility from untrusted networks.Affected if The FTP service (port 21) is exposed to untrusted or external network segments.
A system is affected if it runs Nortel CS1K version 4.50.x with FTP enabled on a VGMC or signaling node that is network-accessible to untrusted sources.
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 dataApply network segmentation and access controls to limit FTP exposure to trusted sources; if possible, disable the FTP service on affected nodes or implement rate limiting and session quotas at the network perimeter while awaiting vendor guidance.
- Consultation3.0 h
- Implementation6.0 h
- Testing3.0 h
- Review / QA2.0 h
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Scan for this in your stack
Free · runs locallyCheck whether your project pulls in CVE-2008-6576 — 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-2008-6576 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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