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Ircd RatboxApplication

CVE-2010-0300

MEDIUM · 5.0 CVSS v2.0 Published 2010-02-04
Fix available
A fix is available. Upgrade to after 2.2.8 or later.
See remediation →
59/100
Remediation priority · Elevated
Remotely reachable No privileges Zero-click

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 · unedited
cache.c in ircd-ratbox before 2.2.9 allows remote attackers to cause a denial of service (NULL pointer dereference and daemon crash) via a HELP command.

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 confidence

The vulnerability exists in cache.c of ircd-ratbox versions prior to 2.2.9. When processing a remote HELP command, the code dereferences a NULL pointer, causing the IRC daemon to crash and resulting in a denial of service.

MitigationUpgrade ircd-ratbox to version 2.2.9 or later to receive the patch that properly handles the HELP command and prevents the NULL pointer dereference.

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
Ircd RatboxApplication
Affected:<= 2.2.8= 1.0= 1.1= 1.1.1= 1.1.2= 1.2.1= 1.2.2= 1.2.3= 1.3= 1.3.1= 1.3.2= 1.4

CVSS 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 checks

Work through these to decide whether this CVE applies to you.

  1. Identify if ircd-ratbox is running
    Run 'ps aux | grep ircd' or 'pgrep -a ircd' to list running ircd-ratbox processes
    Affected if No ircd-ratbox process found means not affected by this specific vulnerability
  2. Determine the installed ircd-ratbox version
    Run 'ircd --version' or check the package manager output (dpkg -l ircd-ratbox, rpm -qi ircd-ratbox)
    Affected if Version is less than 2.2.9 (including any 1.x version listed: 1.0, 1.1, 1.1.1, 1.1.2, 1.2.1, 1.2.2, 1.2.3, 1.3, 1.3.1, 1.3.2, 1.4) - compare your installed version against these ranges
  3. Verify the IRC service is network accessible
    Check if the IRC daemon is listening on configured ports (usually 6667) using 'netstat -tlnp | grep 6667' or 'ss -tlnp | grep 6667'
    Affected if Service is not listening remotely - the vulnerability requires the remote HELP command to be processed, so a local-only or firewalled instance reduces exposure

You are affected if ircd-ratbox is running a version lower than 2.2.9 (or any 1.x version) and the service accepts remote connections that could send a crafted HELP command.

Generated from the published advisory. Verify against your own configuration.

Check your environment

Paste your version and any relevant configuration and it will be compared against the affected criteria above. Do not include secrets or credentials.

AI-assisted, checked against the advisory. Informational, not a guarantee.

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 data
Upgrade available Upgrade to a release after 2.2.8
Interim mitigation

Upgrade ircd-ratbox to version 2.2.9 or later to receive the patch that properly handles the HELP command and prevents the NULL pointer dereference.

Fix this in Ircd Ratbox Scoped from the published advisory
  • Consultation2.0 h
  • Implementation2.0 h
  • Testing3.0 h
  • Review / QA1.0 h
8.0 hours of engineering $1,390
Get the upgrade done

An estimate, not a bill — we confirm scope with you before any work starts. Need it this week? Rush from $2,224.

Scan for this in your stack

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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 sources

Practitioner notes

Contributed

Peer-ranked notes from engineers who’ve handled CVE-2010-0300 in production — separate from our analysis above.

No notes yet

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What this is

A place for practitioners to share what actually worked: a mitigation you’ve tested, a configuration change, a version- or environment-specific caveat, or a link to a verified patch. The most useful notes rise to the top as peers upvote them, so the signal stays high.

What belongs here
  • 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
  • No spam, self-promotion, credentials, or personal data