CVE-2008-7128
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 · uneditedThe ssl_parse_client_key_exchange function in XySSL before 0.9 does not protect against certain Bleichenbacher attacks using chosen ciphertext, which allows remote attackers to recover keys via unspecified vectors.
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 confidenceThe ssl_parse_client_key_exchange function in XySSL before version 0.9 lacks proper protection against Bleichenbacher chosen-ciphertext attacks. The vulnerability allows a remote attacker to recover the SSL/TLS pre-master secret by sending specially crafted RSA ciphertexts and analyzing server error responses, enabling decryption of encrypted sessions.
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<= 0.8= 0.1= 0.2= 0.3= 0.4= 0.5= 0.6= 0.7CVSS 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
- Partial
- Availability
- Partial
AV:N/AC:L/Au:N/C:P/I:P/A:P
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 XySSL presenceSearch for XySSL library files (libxyassl.so, libxyassl.a) or header files (xyassl.h) in the system or application directory. Also check application dependencies using ldd on Linux or similar tools.Affected if XySSL library or its headers are found in the environment
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Determine XySSL versionCheck the library file version using 'strings libxyassl.so | grep -i version' or examine version macros in xyassl.h header file. Also check application version if it embeds XySSL.Affected if The version is 0.8 or earlier, or the version cannot be determined but XySSL is present
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Verify RSA key exchange is enabledExamine the SSL/TLS configuration or code that uses XySSL to determine if RSA key exchange (cipher suites like RSA_* ) is enabled. Check configuration files or build settings that specify allowed cipher suites.Affected if RSA key exchange ciphers are enabled and XySSL version is vulnerable
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Check for Bleichenbacher-sensitive error responsesReview server SSL/TLS error handling code or logs to see if distinguishable error messages are returned for different RSA decryption failures (different responses for padding validation vs other errors).Affected if The server returns distinct error responses that could leak information about RSA decryption failures
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Test SSL/TLS handshake behaviorUse openssl s_client or similar tool to connect to the service using RSA key exchange ciphers and observe error messages when sending malformed RSA ciphertexts.Affected if The server exhibits timing differences or verbose error messages that could aid a Bleichenbacher attack
The environment is affected if XySSL version 0.8 or earlier is in use and RSA key exchange is enabled, as the library lacks Bleichenbacher countermeasures.
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 to XySSL 0.9 or later which implements proper Bleichenbacher countermeasures (constant-time RSA decryption and padding validation), or migrate to a maintained SSL library with proper RSA padding validation such as a current version of OpenSSL.
- Consultation3.0 h
- Implementation8.0 h
- Testing6.0 h
- Review / QA3.0 h
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Scan for this in your stack
Free · runs locallyCheck whether your project pulls in CVE-2008-7128 — 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-2008-7128 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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