CVE-2008-7288
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 · uneditedIBM Tivoli Directory Server (TDS) 5.2 before 5.2.0.5-TIV-ITDS-LA0007 on AIX allows remote attackers to cause a denial of service (server destabilization) via an anonymous DIGEST-MD5 LDAP Bind operation.
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 confidenceIBM Tivoli Directory Server 5.2 on AIX contains a flaw where anonymous LDAP Bind operations using the DIGEST-MD5 authentication mechanism can destabilize the server, causing a denial of service. The vulnerability exists in versions prior to 5.2.0.5-TIV-ITDS-LA0007.
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= 5.2.0= 5.2.0.4CVSS 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
- Partial
AV:N/AC:L/Au:N/C:N/I:N/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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Verify IBM Tivoli Directory Server is installedRun 'lsdev -C -c ldap' or check for the presence of the ITDS installation directory (typically /opt/ibm/ldap/V5.2)Affected if The product is not present on the system
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Check the installed ITDS versionRun 'idsversion' command from the installation directory or check the version file in /opt/ibm/ldap/V5.2Affected if The version is 5.2.0 or 5.2.0.4 (prior to 5.2.0.5-TIV-ITDS-LA0007)
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Confirm the platform is AIXRun 'uname -a' or 'oslevel' to verify the operating systemAffected if The server is running on AIX (the vulnerability is specific to AIX)
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Verify anonymous LDAP bind is enabledUse the ldapsearch utility or ITDS admin tool to query the anonymous bind configuration setting (cn=configuration,cn=localhost) for 'ibm-slapdAllowAnonymousBind'Affected if Anonymous bind is enabled (value is true or 1)
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Check if DIGEST-MD5 authentication mechanism is configuredExamine the ITDS authentication configuration for the presence of DIGEST-MD5 in the supported SASL mechanisms (check cn=sasl,cn=configuration)Affected if DIGEST-MD5 is listed as an enabled or supported SASL mechanism
A user is affected if they run IBM Tivoli Directory Server version 5.2.0 or 5.2.0.4 on AIX with anonymous bind enabled and DIGEST-MD5 authentication available.
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 IBM Tivoli Directory Server to version 5.2.0.5-TIV-ITDS-LA0007 or later. If immediate upgrade is not feasible, consider disabling anonymous bind or restricting unauthenticated access at the network perimeter until the patch can be applied.
- Consultation4.0 h
- Implementation8.0 h
- Testing6.0 h
- Review / QA4.0 h
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Free · runs locallyCheck whether your project pulls in CVE-2008-7288 — 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-2008-7288 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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