CVE-2008-2235

OpenSC before 0.11.5 uses weak permissions (ADMIN file control information of 00) for the 5015 directory on smart cards and USB crypto tokens running Siemens CardOS M4, which allows physically proximate attackers to change the PIN.

Published: 2008-08-01 Last update: 2026-06-16 Assigner: [email protected] Source: [email protected]

Conclusion & alert: CVE-2008-2235 is rated Low Risk (30.7/100): CVSS Medium severity, with low exploitation likelihood (EPSS 0.39%). Mandatory action: Monitor for updates and reassess as exploit intelligence or EPSS changes.

Risk is dynamic; we continuously reassess and refresh what is shown on this page as upstream context changes.

Exploit prediction scoring system (EPSS) score for CVE-2008-2235

EPSS lead: Daily EPSS estimates relative likelihood of exploitation; percentile ranks this CVE among scored vulnerabilities (higher = more severe relative rank).

# Date Old EPSS score New EPSS score Delta (New - Old)
1 2026-06-15 0.06% 0.39% +0.34%
2 2023-03-07 1.55% 0.06% -1.49%
3 2022-02-04 1.55%

Full EPSS history (3 records total)

Common vulnerability scoring system (CVSS) metrics for CVE-2008-2235

CVSS metrics for this CVE.

Base score Version Severity Vector Exploitability Impact Score source
4.9 2.0 MEDIUM
AV:L/AC:L/Au:N/C:N/I:C/A:N Click to expand
Access vector (AV:L)
Requires local access to the target system.
Access complexity (AC:L)
Exploitation conditions are straightforward and predictable.
Authentication (AU:N)
No authentication is required.
Confidentiality impact (C:N)
No confidentiality impact.
Integrity impact (I:C)
Complete integrity impact.
Availability impact (A:N)
No availability impact.
3.9 6.9 [email protected]

Weakness enumeration for CVE-2008-2235

OS Trackers for CVE-2008-2235

vendor priority summary link
debian not yet assigned CVE-2008-2235 not yet assigned priority: Debian including 1 source packages (opensc), 5 status rows across 5 suites (bookworm, bullseye, forky, sid, trixie): resolved 5. https://security-tracker.debian.org/tracker/CVE-2008-2235
gentoo normal CVE-2008-2235: 1 GLSA(s) (200812-09), 1 atom(s) (dev-libs/opensc); latest impact normal. https://bugs.gentoo.org/buglist.cgi?quicksearch=CVE-2008-2235
redhat https://access.redhat.com/security/cve/CVE-2008-2235
suse medium CVE-2008-2235 severity moderate: SUSE including 19 source package names (libopensc2-0.11.6-5.25.1, libopensc2-0.11.6-5.27.1, …), 34 product×package rows across 13 product lines (SUSE Linux Enterprise High Performance Computing 15-LTSS, SUSE Linux Enterprise Server 11 SP1, … (13 product lines)): Fixed 30, Known Not Affected 4. https://www.suse.com/security/cve/CVE-2008-2235/
ubuntu low CVE-2008-2235 low priority: Ubuntu including 1 source packages (opensc), 12 status rows across 12 suites (dapper, feisty, gutsy, hardy, intrepid, jaunty, karmic, lucid, maverick, natty, oneiric, upstream): not-affected 7, ignored 4, released 1. https://ubuntu.com/security/CVE-2008-2235

Vendor comments (NVD) for CVE-2008-2235

  • Siemens (2008-08-14T00:00:00)

    Siemens has analyzed this report and states that no security breach can be found in the Siemens CardOS M4 itself and it thus does not relate to any Siemens component. The reported vulnerability (caused by inappropriate personalization) is due to an issue in the OPENSC middleware detailed information can be found under http://www.opensc-project.org/security.html. Therefore, Siemens recommends all customers and partners using OPENSC to use either the current version 0.11.5 of OPENSC in which this vulnerability is fixed or to use the bug fix suggested under http://freshmeat.net/articles/view/3333/. We hope that we could help you with this recommendation. If you have further questions, please contact the Siemens CardOS hotline under: [email protected] Phone: +49 89 636 35996 (Mo.-Fr. 9:00-17:00 German time)

Affected software / configurations for CVE-2008-2235

Vendor Product Version Raw CPE
opensc-project opensc 0.3.2 cpe:2.3:a:opensc-project:opensc:0.3.2:*:*:*:*:*:*:*
opensc-project opensc 0.3.5 cpe:2.3:a:opensc-project:opensc:0.3.5:*:*:*:*:*:*:*
opensc-project opensc 0.4.0 cpe:2.3:a:opensc-project:opensc:0.4.0:*:*:*:*:*:*:*
opensc-project opensc 0.6.0 cpe:2.3:a:opensc-project:opensc:0.6.0:*:*:*:*:*:*:*
opensc-project opensc 0.6.1 cpe:2.3:a:opensc-project:opensc:0.6.1:*:*:*:*:*:*:*
opensc-project opensc 0.7.0 cpe:2.3:a:opensc-project:opensc:0.7.0:*:*:*:*:*:*:*
opensc-project opensc 0.8 cpe:2.3:a:opensc-project:opensc:0.8:*:*:*:*:*:*:*
opensc-project opensc 0.8.0.0 cpe:2.3:a:opensc-project:opensc:0.8.0.0:*:*:*:*:*:*:*
opensc-project opensc 0.8.1 cpe:2.3:a:opensc-project:opensc:0.8.1:*:*:*:*:*:*:*
opensc-project opensc 0.9 cpe:2.3:a:opensc-project:opensc:0.9:*:*:*:*:*:*:*
opensc-project opensc 0.9.6 cpe:2.3:a:opensc-project:opensc:0.9.6:*:*:*:*:*:*:*
opensc-project opensc 0.9.7 cpe:2.3:a:opensc-project:opensc:0.9.7:*:*:*:*:*:*:*
opensc-project opensc 0.9.7 cpe:2.3:a:opensc-project:opensc:0.9.7:b:*:*:*:*:*:*
opensc-project opensc 0.9.7 cpe:2.3:a:opensc-project:opensc:0.9.7:d:*:*:*:*:*:*
opensc-project opensc 0.9.8 cpe:2.3:a:opensc-project:opensc:0.9.8:*:*:*:*:*:*:*
opensc-project opensc 0.11.0 cpe:2.3:a:opensc-project:opensc:0.11.0:*:*:*:*:*:*:*
opensc-project opensc 0.11.1 cpe:2.3:a:opensc-project:opensc:0.11.1:*:*:*:*:*:*:*
opensc-project opensc 0.11.2 cpe:2.3:a:opensc-project:opensc:0.11.2:*:*:*:*:*:*:*
opensc-project opensc 0.11.3 cpe:2.3:a:opensc-project:opensc:0.11.3:*:*:*:*:*:*:*
opensc-project opensc 0.11.3 cpe:2.3:a:opensc-project:opensc:0.11.3:pre3:*:*:*:*:*:*
opensc-project opensc 0.11.4 cpe:2.3:a:opensc-project:opensc:0.11.4:*:*:*:*:*:*:*

References for CVE-2008-2235

URL Tags
http://lists.opensuse.org/opensuse-security-announce/2008-09/msg00005.html
http://lists.opensuse.org/opensuse-security-announce/2009-02/msg00002.html
http://secunia.com/advisories/31330
http://secunia.com/advisories/31360
http://secunia.com/advisories/32099
http://secunia.com/advisories/33115
http://secunia.com/advisories/34362
http://security.gentoo.org/glsa/glsa-200812-09.xml
http://www.mandriva.com/security/advisories?name=MDVSA-2008:183
http://www.opensc-project.org/pipermail/opensc-announce/2008-July/000020.html
http://www.opensc-project.org/security.html
http://www.securityfocus.com/bid/30473 Patch
https://exchange.xforce.ibmcloud.com/vulnerabilities/44140
https://www.debian.org/security/2008/dsa-1627
https://www.redhat.com/archives/fedora-package-announce/2009-March/msg00686.html
cvelogic Threat Intelligence