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Ircd RatboxApplication · Ratbox

CVE-2015-5290

HIGH · 7.5 CVSS v3.1 Published 2019-12-26
Mitigation only
No fix yet — a mitigation exists. There is no fixed release. A documented workaround reduces exposure in the meantime.
See remediation →
84/100
Remediation priority · High
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
A Denial of Service vulnerability exists in ircd-ratbox 3.0.9 in the MONITOR Command Handler.

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 confidence

A Denial of Service vulnerability exists in ircd-ratbox version 3.0.9 within the MONITOR command handler. The MONITOR command in IRC allows users to track when specific nicknames come online or go offline. The vulnerability in the handler likely allows an attacker to cause the IRC daemon to crash, hang, or consume excessive resources through specially crafted MONITOR commands, resulting in service disruption.

MitigationUpgrade to a patched version of ircd-ratbox that addresses this vulnerability. If no patched version is available, consider rate-limiting MONITOR commands or restricting who can issue them to mitigate DoS risk.

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:= 3.0.9

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
Privileges
None
User interaction
None
Scope
Unchanged
Confidentiality
None
Integrity
None
Availability
High

CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:L/PR:N/UI:N/S:U/C:N/I:N/A:H

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 ircd-ratbox version
    Run the ircd daemon with version flags or check the installed package version (e.g., using package manager queries, running 'ircd --version', or examining binary metadata)
    Affected if The installed version is exactly 3.0.9
  2. Confirm MONITOR command support
    Check if the MONITOR module is loaded in the ircd-ratbox configuration or module directory. Inspect the module configuration file for 'm_monitor.so' or similar MONITOR-related module entries
    Affected if MONITOR module is loaded and operational in the configuration
  3. Verify MONITOR functionality is enabled
    Check the ircd.conf configuration file for MONITOR-related settings or permissions that enable the MONITOR command for users
    Affected if MONITOR command is enabled for user access in the configuration

The environment is affected if ircd-ratbox version 3.0.9 is running with the MONITOR command module loaded and enabled.

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 version of ircd-ratbox that addresses this vulnerability. If no patched version is available, consider rate-limiting MONITOR commands or restricting who can issue them to mitigate DoS risk.

Fix this in Ircd Ratbox Scoped from the published advisory
  • Consultation2.0 h
  • Implementation4.0 h
  • Testing4.0 h
  • Review / QA2.0 h
12.0 hours of engineering $2,080
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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-2015-5290 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
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