dbcve.org
Boinc ClientApplication · Universityofcalifornia

CVE-2011-5280

MEDIUM · 5.0 CVSS v2.0 Published 2014-06-02
Mitigation only
No fix yet — a mitigation exists. There is no fixed release. A documented workaround reduces exposure in the meantime.
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
Multiple stack-based buffer overflows in BOINC 6.13.x allow remote attackers to cause a denial of service (crash) via a long trickle-up to (1) client/cs_trickle.cpp or (2) db/db_base.cpp.

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

BOINC 6.13.x contains stack-based buffer overflows in client/cs_trickle.cpp and db/db_base.cpp. Remote attackers can trigger crashes via overly long trickle-up messages, which are used for client-to-server communication in the BOINC distributed computing platform.

MitigationUpgrade to a patched BOINC version newer than 6.13.x. If upgrade is not immediately feasible, consider network-level filtering of trickle-up messages to restrict message length.

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
Boinc ClientApplication
Affected:= 6.13.0= 6.13.1

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. Check installed BOINC client version
    Run 'boinc --version' or look for version info in the BOINC client GUI under 'About' or in the installation directory
    Affected if Version is 6.13.0 or 6.13.1 exactly (these are the only affected versions)
  2. Verify BOINC client is running and network communication is enabled
    Check if the BOINC client process is active and look for network-related settings in the client (Advanced View > Network tab or config.xml for 'network_status' setting)
    Affected if Client is running with network access enabled, making it reachable for remote trickle-up message injection
  3. Confirm BOINC is attached to at least one project
    In BOINC Manager, check the Projects tab to see if any BOINC projects are connected. Alternatively, inspect the client_state.xml file in the BOINC data directory for '<project>' entries
    Affected if Client has active project attachments - trickle-up messages only apply when the client communicates with project servers

You are affected if you are running BOINC Client version 6.13.0 or 6.13.1, have network communication enabled, and are attached to one or more BOINC projects that use trickle-up messaging.

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
Mitigation available No clean upgrade yet — mitigate in the meantime
Mitigation

Upgrade to a patched BOINC version newer than 6.13.x. If upgrade is not immediately feasible, consider network-level filtering of trickle-up messages to restrict message length.

Fix this in Boinc Client Scoped from the published advisory
  • Consultation2.0 h
  • Implementation4.0 h
  • Testing6.0 h
  • Review / QA2.0 h
14.0 hours of engineering $2,380
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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-2011-5280 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
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