CVE-2008-7263
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 · uneditedftpserver.py in pyftpdlib before 0.5.0 does not delay its response after receiving an invalid login attempt, which makes it easier for remote attackers to obtain access via a brute-force attack.
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 confidencepyftpdlib versions before 0.5.0 fail to implement a response delay after failed authentication attempts in ftpserver.py. This allows attackers to rapidly attempt credentials without network-level delays, facilitating efficient brute-force attacks against FTP credentials.
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<= 0.4.0= 0.1= 0.1.1= 0.2.0= 0.3.0CVSS 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
- 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 pyftpdlib installationRun 'pip show pyftpdlib' or 'python -c "import pyftpdlib; print(pyftpdlib.__version__)"' to retrieve the installed versionAffected if pyftpdlib is not installed or cannot be imported
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Compare version against affected rangeCheck if the installed version is 0.1, 0.1.1, 0.2.0, 0.3.0, or 0.4.0 (any version <= 0.4.0)Affected if Installed version is 0.4.0 or lower, or the version cannot be determined but is known to be pre-0.5.0
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Confirm pyftpdlib FTP server is in useCheck running processes for pyftpdlib-based FTP services or inspect application code that imports and uses pyftpdlib.authorizers or pyftpdlib.ftpserverAffected if A pyftpdlib-based FTP server is actively running or configured in the environment
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Verify authentication handler is exposedInspect the FTP server configuration for pyftpdlib.authorizers.DummyAuthorizer or custom authorizer classes that handle login attempts without artificial delayAffected if The FTP server uses pyftpdlib to handle authentication and no external delay mechanism is applied before 0.5.0
Environment is affected if pyftpdlib version 0.5.0 or later is not installed and a pyftpdlib-based FTP server is running to handle authentication attempts.
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 pyftpdlib to version 0.5.0 or later, which implements proper delay mechanisms after invalid login attempts to mitigate brute-force attacks.
- Consultation2.0 h
- Implementation2.0 h
- Testing4.0 h
- Review / QA2.0 h
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Free · runs locallyCheck whether your project pulls in CVE-2008-7263 — 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-2008-7263 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
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