CVE-2008-4250

Exp

The Server service in Microsoft Windows 2000 SP4, XP SP2 and SP3, Server 2003 SP1 and SP2, Vista Gold and SP1, Server 2008, and 7 Pre-Beta allows remote attackers to execute arbitrary code via a crafted RPC request that triggers the overflow during path canonicalization, as exploited in the wild by Gimmiv.A in October 2008, aka "Server Service Vulnerability."

Published: 2008-10-23 Last update: 2026-06-16 Assigner: [email protected] Source: [email protected]
NVD Status：Analyzed，CVE State: published
View at NVD, CVE.org, EUVD

CVE-2008-4250 is rated Critical Active Threat (100/100): CVSS Critical severity, with high exploitation likelihood (EPSS 98.75%, 100th percentile). CISA KEV confirms active exploitation (added 2026-05-20) affecting Microsoft / Windows. a weakness (CWE-119) Unauthenticated remote administrative access may be possible. EPSS rose +6.95% over the last day, indicating growing attacker interest. The CISA remediation deadline has passed—treat as an emergency patch priority.

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

CISA KEV Record for CVE-2008-4250

Name: Microsoft Windows Buffer Overflow Vulnerability · CISA KEV detail

Exploit added: 2026-05-20

Action due: 2026-06-03

Required action: Apply mitigations per vendor instructions, follow applicable BOD 22-01 guidance for cloud services, or discontinue use of the product if mitigations are unavailable.

Public exploit references (Exploit-DB) for CVE-2008-4250

EDB-ID Source Kind Published Link
40279 exploit_db edb 2016-02-26 Exploit-DB ↗
16362 exploit_db edb 2011-01-21 Exploit-DB ↗
7132 exploit_db edb 2008-11-16 Exploit-DB ↗
7104 exploit_db edb 2008-11-12 Exploit-DB ↗
6841 exploit_db edb 2008-10-26 Exploit-DB ↗
6824 exploit_db edb 2008-10-23 Exploit-DB ↗
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Exploit prediction scoring system (EPSS) score for CVE-2008-4250

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 91.80% 98.75% +6.95%
2 2026-06-10 92.08% 91.80% -0.28%
3 2026-05-25 — 92.08% —

Full EPSS history (28 records total)

Common vulnerability scoring system (CVSS) metrics for CVE-2008-4250

CVSS metrics for this CVE.

Base score Version Severity Vector Exploitability Impact Score source
9.8 3.1 CRITICAL
CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:L/PR:N/UI:N/S:U/C:H/I:H/A:H Click to expand
Attack vector (AV:N)
Could be attacked over the internet or any normal routed network—not just someone sitting at the machine.
Attack complexity (AC:L)
Once they can reach the bug, pulling it off is straightforward—no weird race conditions or rare setup.
Privileges required (PR:N)
No account or special rights needed—anonymous or random user is enough.
User interaction (UI:N)
Nobody has to click “OK” or open a trap file; it can work without a victim helping.
Scope (S:U)
Damage stays in the same “trust bubble” as the broken component—no big spill into unrelated systems.
Confidentiality (C:H)
Serious risk that confidential data gets exposed in a big way.
Integrity (I:H)
They could widely tamper with or forge data—trust in the data is badly hurt.
Availability (A:H)
Could take the service down hard or make it unusable for people who depend on it.
 3.9 5.9 134c704f-9b21-4f2e-91b3-4a467353bcc0
10.0 2.0 HIGH
AV:N/AC:L/Au:N/C:C/I:C/A:C Click to expand
Access vector (AV:N)
Can be exploited remotely over network reachability.
Access complexity (AC:L)
Exploitation conditions are straightforward and predictable.
Authentication (AU:N)
No authentication is required.
Confidentiality impact (C:C)
Complete confidentiality impact.
Integrity impact (I:C)
Complete integrity impact.
Availability impact (A:C)
Complete availability impact.
 10.0 10.0 [email protected]

Weakness enumeration for CVE-2008-4250

GitHub Security Advisory for CVE-2008-4250

GHSA-3v68-r58v-m4c2 · Severity: high — The Server service in Microsoft Windows 2000 SP4, XP SP2 and SP3, Server 2003 SP1 and SP2, Vista...

Affected software / configurations for CVE-2008-4250

Vendor Product Version Raw CPE
microsoft windows_2000 — cpe:2.3:o:microsoft:windows_2000:-:sp4:*:*:*:*:*:*
microsoft windows_server_2003 — cpe:2.3:o:microsoft:windows_server_2003:-:*:*:*:*:*:x64:*
microsoft windows_server_2003 — cpe:2.3:o:microsoft:windows_server_2003:-:sp1:*:*:*:*:*:*
microsoft windows_server_2003 — cpe:2.3:o:microsoft:windows_server_2003:-:sp1:*:*:-:*:itanium:*
microsoft windows_server_2003 — cpe:2.3:o:microsoft:windows_server_2003:-:sp2:*:*:*:*:*:*
microsoft windows_server_2003 — cpe:2.3:o:microsoft:windows_server_2003:-:sp2:*:*:*:*:itanium:*
microsoft windows_server_2003 — cpe:2.3:o:microsoft:windows_server_2003:-:sp2:*:*:*:*:x64:*
microsoft windows_server_2008 — cpe:2.3:o:microsoft:windows_server_2008:-:*:*:*:-:*:itanium:*
microsoft windows_server_2008 — cpe:2.3:o:microsoft:windows_server_2008:-:*:*:*:-:*:x64:*
microsoft windows_server_2008 — cpe:2.3:o:microsoft:windows_server_2008:-:*:*:*:-:*:x86:*
microsoft windows_vista — cpe:2.3:o:microsoft:windows_vista:-:*:*:*:*:*:*:*
microsoft windows_vista — cpe:2.3:o:microsoft:windows_vista:-:*:*:*:*:*:x64:*
microsoft windows_vista — cpe:2.3:o:microsoft:windows_vista:-:sp1:*:*:*:*:*:*
microsoft windows_vista — cpe:2.3:o:microsoft:windows_vista:-:sp1:*:*:-:*:x64:*
microsoft windows_xp — cpe:2.3:o:microsoft:windows_xp:-:-:*:*:professional:*:x64:*
microsoft windows_xp — cpe:2.3:o:microsoft:windows_xp:-:sp2:*:*:*:*:*:*
microsoft windows_xp — cpe:2.3:o:microsoft:windows_xp:-:sp2:*:*:professional:*:x64:*
microsoft windows_xp — cpe:2.3:o:microsoft:windows_xp:-:sp3:*:*:*:*:*:*

References for CVE-2008-4250

URL Tags
http://blogs.securiteam.com/index.php/archives/1150 Permissions Required
http://marc.info/?l=bugtraq&m=122703006921213&w=2 Issue Tracking Mailing List Third Party Advisory
http://secunia.com/advisories/32326 Patch Vendor Advisory
http://www.kb.cert.org/vuls/id/827267 Third Party Advisory US Government Resource
http://www.securityfocus.com/archive/1/497808/100/0/threaded Broken Link Third Party Advisory VDB Entry
http://www.securityfocus.com/archive/1/497816/100/0/threaded Broken Link Third Party Advisory VDB Entry
http://www.securityfocus.com/bid/31874 Broken Link Exploit Patch Third Party Advisory VDB Entry
http://www.securitytracker.com/id?1021091 Broken Link Third Party Advisory VDB Entry
http://www.us-cert.gov/cas/techalerts/TA08-297A.html Broken Link Third Party Advisory US Government Resource
http://www.us-cert.gov/cas/techalerts/TA09-088A.html Third Party Advisory US Government Resource
http://www.vupen.com/english/advisories/2008/2902 Vendor Advisory
https://docs.microsoft.com/en-us/security-updates/securitybulletins/2008/ms08-067 Patch Vendor Advisory
https://exchange.xforce.ibmcloud.com/vulnerabilities/46040 Third Party Advisory VDB Entry
https://oval.cisecurity.org/repository/search/definition/oval%3Aorg.mitre.oval%3Adef%3A6093 Broken Link Third Party Advisory
https://www.exploit-db.com/exploits/6824 Exploit Third Party Advisory VDB Entry
https://www.exploit-db.com/exploits/6841 Exploit Third Party Advisory VDB Entry
https://www.exploit-db.com/exploits/7104 Exploit Third Party Advisory VDB Entry
https://www.exploit-db.com/exploits/7132 Exploit Third Party Advisory VDB Entry
https://www.cisa.gov/known-exploited-vulnerabilities-catalog?field_cve=CVE-2008-4250 US Government Resource
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