Linux Distros Unpatched Vulnerability : CVE-2008-2956

critical Nessus Plugin ID 254148

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Synopsis

The Linux/Unix host has one or more packages installed with a vulnerability that the vendor indicates will not be patched.

Description

The Linux/Unix host has one or more packages installed that are impacted by a vulnerability without a vendor supplied patch available.

- Memory leak in Pidgin 2.0.0, and possibly other versions, allows remote attackers to cause a denial of service (memory consumption) via malformed XML documents. NOTE: this issue has been disputed by the upstream vendor, who states: I was never able to identify a scenario under which a problem occurred and the original reporter wasn't able to supply any sort of reproduction details. (CVE-2008-2956)

Note that Nessus relies on the presence of the package as reported by the vendor.

Solution

There is no known solution at this time.

Plugin Details

Severity: Critical

ID: 254148

File Name: unpatched_CVE_2008_2956.nasl

Version: 1.3

Type: Local

Agent: unix

Family: Misc.

Published: 8/24/2025

Updated: 4/28/2026

Supported Sensors: Frictionless Assessment Agent, Nessus Agent, Agentless Assessment, Nessus

Risk Information

VPR

Risk Factor: Medium

Score: 5.9

CVSS v2

Risk Factor: Medium

Base Score: 5

Temporal Score: 4.3

Vector: CVSS2#AV:N/AC:L/Au:N/C:N/I:N/A:P

CVSS Score Source: CVE-2008-2956

CVSS v3

Risk Factor: Critical

Base Score: 9.8

Temporal Score: 9

Vector: CVSS:3.0/AV:N/AC:L/PR:N/UI:N/S:U/C:H/I:H/A:H

Temporal Vector: CVSS:3.0/E:U/RL:U/RC:C

Vulnerability Information

CPE: cpe:/o:debian:debian_linux:14.0, cpe:/o:debian:debian_linux:11.0, p-cpe:/a:debian:debian_linux:pidgin, cpe:/o:debian:debian_linux:13.0, cpe:/o:debian:debian_linux:12.0

Required KB Items: Host/local_checks_enabled, Host/cpu, global_settings/vendor_unpatched, Host/OS/identifier

Exploit Ease: No known exploits are available

Vulnerability Publication Date: 7/1/2008

Reference Information

CVE: CVE-2008-2956

Detections

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