The REXML module in Ruby 1.8.6 through 1.8.6-p287, 1.8.7 through 1.8.7-p72, and 1.9 allows context-dependent attackers to cause a denial of service (CPU consumption) via an XML document with recursively nested entities, aka an "XML entity explosion."
Conclusion & alert: CVE-2008-3790 is rated High Exploit Risk (69/100): CVSS Medium severity, with high exploitation likelihood (EPSS 15.20%, 96th percentile). Core evidence: 2 public exploit reference(s) are indexed (Exploit-DB). Mandatory action: Public exploits are available—assess exposure, apply mitigations, and prioritize patching.
Risk is dynamic; we continuously reassess and refresh what is shown on this page as upstream context changes.
| EDB-ID | Source | Kind | Published | Link |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 32292 | exploit_db | edb | 2008-08-23 | Exploit-DB ↗ |
| — | nvd_ref | exploit_tag | Exploit-DB ↗ |
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 | 2026-06-18 | 14.92% | 15.20% | +0.28% |
| 2 | 2026-06-15 | 11.37% | 14.92% | +3.56% |
| 3 | 2026-06-04 | — | 11.37% | — |
Full EPSS history (27 records total)
CVSS metrics for this CVE.
| Base score | Version | Severity | Vector | Exploitability | Impact | Score source |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 5.0 | 2.0 | MEDIUM |
|
10.0 | 2.9 | [email protected] |
| vendor | priority | summary | link |
|---|---|---|---|
gentoo
|
normal | CVE-2008-3790: 1 GLSA(s) (200812-17), 1 atom(s) (dev-lang/ruby); latest impact normal. | https://bugs.gentoo.org/buglist.cgi?quicksearch=CVE-2008-3790 |
redhat
|
medium | — | https://access.redhat.com/security/cve/CVE-2008-3790 |
ubuntu
|
low | CVE-2008-3790 low priority: Ubuntu including 2 source packages (ruby1.8, ruby1.9), 24 status rows across 12 suites (dapper, feisty, gutsy, hardy, intrepid, jaunty, karmic, lucid, maverick, natty, oneiric, upstream): released 10, not-affected 7, ignored 4, DNE 3. | https://ubuntu.com/security/CVE-2008-3790 |
| Vendor | Product | Version | Raw CPE |
|---|---|---|---|
| ruby-lang | ruby | 1.8.6 | cpe:2.3:a:ruby-lang:ruby:1.8.6:*:*:*:*:*:*:* |
| ruby-lang | ruby | 1.8.6 | cpe:2.3:a:ruby-lang:ruby:1.8.6:p110:*:*:*:*:*:* |
| ruby-lang | ruby | 1.8.6 | cpe:2.3:a:ruby-lang:ruby:1.8.6:p111:*:*:*:*:*:* |
| ruby-lang | ruby | 1.8.6 | cpe:2.3:a:ruby-lang:ruby:1.8.6:p114:*:*:*:*:*:* |
| ruby-lang | ruby | 1.8.6 | cpe:2.3:a:ruby-lang:ruby:1.8.6:p230:*:*:*:*:*:* |
| ruby-lang | ruby | 1.8.6 | cpe:2.3:a:ruby-lang:ruby:1.8.6:p286:*:*:*:*:*:* |
| ruby-lang | ruby | 1.8.6 | cpe:2.3:a:ruby-lang:ruby:1.8.6:p287:*:*:*:*:*:* |
| ruby-lang | ruby | 1.8.6 | cpe:2.3:a:ruby-lang:ruby:1.8.6:p36:*:*:*:*:*:* |
| ruby-lang | ruby | 1.8.6 | cpe:2.3:a:ruby-lang:ruby:1.8.6:preview1:*:*:*:*:*:* |
| ruby-lang | ruby | 1.8.6 | cpe:2.3:a:ruby-lang:ruby:1.8.6:preview2:*:*:*:*:*:* |
| ruby-lang | ruby | 1.8.6 | cpe:2.3:a:ruby-lang:ruby:1.8.6:preview3:*:*:*:*:*:* |
| ruby-lang | ruby | 1.8.7 | cpe:2.3:a:ruby-lang:ruby:1.8.7:*:*:*:*:*:*:* |
| ruby-lang | ruby | 1.8.7 | cpe:2.3:a:ruby-lang:ruby:1.8.7:p17:*:*:*:*:*:* |
| ruby-lang | ruby | 1.8.7 | cpe:2.3:a:ruby-lang:ruby:1.8.7:p22:*:*:*:*:*:* |
| ruby-lang | ruby | 1.8.7 | cpe:2.3:a:ruby-lang:ruby:1.8.7:p71:*:*:*:*:*:* |
| ruby-lang | ruby | 1.8.7 | cpe:2.3:a:ruby-lang:ruby:1.8.7:p72:*:*:*:*:*:* |
| ruby-lang | ruby | 1.8.7 | cpe:2.3:a:ruby-lang:ruby:1.8.7:preview1:*:*:*:*:*:* |
| ruby-lang | ruby | 1.8.7 | cpe:2.3:a:ruby-lang:ruby:1.8.7:preview2:*:*:*:*:*:* |
| ruby-lang | ruby | 1.8.7 | cpe:2.3:a:ruby-lang:ruby:1.8.7:preview3:*:*:*:*:*:* |
| ruby-lang | ruby | 1.8.7 | cpe:2.3:a:ruby-lang:ruby:1.8.7:preview4:*:*:*:*:*:* |
| ruby-lang | ruby | 1.9 | cpe:2.3:a:ruby-lang:ruby:1.9:*:*:*:*:*:*:* |