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."
CVE-2008-3790
This CVE was only ever scored under CVSS v2.0. NVD CVSS v2.0 base 5.0 — v2 rates that MEDIUM (v2 bands: LOW 0.0–3.9 / MEDIUM 4.0–6.9 / HIGH 7.0–10.0; v2 has no CRITICAL band). Vector AV:N/AC:L/Au:N/C:N/I:N/A:P. CVSS v2 is an older, coarser metric than v3.1/v4.0 (no Scope, no User Interaction, no Attack Requirements), so it is not directly comparable to a v3 or v4 score. NVD has never re-scored this record under v3. EPSS predicts 15.2% exploitation probability in the next 30 days, which is reflected in EG Risk but does not lift the v2 base. Confidence: LOW.
- Lower severity and no public exploit yet
A fix is available — apply it.
- CVSS v2.0 (legacy)
- 5.0MEDIUMNVD never assigned a CVSS v3 rating to this CVE
- EG Score
- 5.0(low)
- EG Risk
- 53(Track)EG Risk 53/100SSVC: Track
EG Risk is EchelonGraph's 0–100 priority score: it fuses intrinsic severity with real-world exploitation and automatability so you can rank equal-severity CVEs and fix the most dangerous first. Higher = act sooner. Distinct from the 0–10 EG Score (severity).
How it’s computedSeverity50% × 45%Exploitation65% × 40%Automatability30% × 15%Action: Routine — remediate on your standard cadence. - EPSS PROB
- 15%
- EPSS %ILE
- 96%
- KEV
- Not listed
Published
August 27, 2008
Last Modified
April 23, 2026
References (70)
- cve@mitrehttp://groups.google.com/group/comp.lang.ruby/browse_thread/thread/19f69e8a081fc0d1/e138e014b74352ca
- cve@mitrehttp://lists.apple.com/archives/security-announce/2009/May/msg00002.html
- cve@mitrehttp://secunia.com/advisories/31602
- cve@mitrehttp://secunia.com/advisories/32165
- cve@mitrehttp://secunia.com/advisories/32219
- cve@mitrehttp://secunia.com/advisories/32255
- cve@mitrehttp://secunia.com/advisories/32256
- cve@mitrehttp://secunia.com/advisories/32371
- cve@mitrehttp://secunia.com/advisories/33178
- cve@mitrehttp://secunia.com/advisories/33185
- cve@mitrehttp://secunia.com/advisories/35074
- cve@mitrehttp://security.gentoo.org/glsa/glsa-200812-17.xml
- cve@mitrehttp://support.apple.com/kb/HT3549
- cve@mitrehttp://support.avaya.com/elmodocs2/security/ASA-2008-424.htm
- cve@mitrehttp://weblog.rubyonrails.org/2008/9/3/rails-2-0-4-maintenance-release
Patch Availability(3)
| Vendor / Ecosystem | Fixed in / Patch | Released | Source |
|---|---|---|---|
| ubuntu | libruby1.8 (1.8.5-4ubuntu2.3) @ feisty | 2026-05-30 | ubuntu |
| ubuntu | ruby1.9 (1.9.0.2-7ubuntu1.1) @ intrepid | 2026-05-30 | ubuntu |
| redhat | ruby-0:1.8.5-5.el5_2.5 | 2008-10-21 | redhat |
Patches are aggregated from vendor advisories (Red Hat, Microsoft, Cisco, GitHub) and package ecosystems (OSV, GHSA). Multiple rows for the same upstream release have been deduplicated.
Affected Packages
(2 across 1 ecosystem)
Debian:4.0(2)
| Package | Vulnerable range | Fixed in | Dependents |
|---|---|---|---|
| ruby1.8 | 1.8.5-4, 1.8.5-4etch1, 1.8.5-4etch2 | 1.8.5-4etch3 | — |
| ruby1.9 | 1.9.0+20060609-1, 1.9.0+20060609-1etch1, 1.9.0+20060609-1etch2 | 1.9.0+20060609-1etch3 | — |
Weakness Classification(1)
MITRE Common Weakness Enumeration — the root-cause categories this CVE belongs to.
All Vendor Advisories
(3)
Every vendor that published an advisory referencing this CVE — pulled from our cve_vendor_advisories aggregation. Click any row for the vendor's original advisory page.
Data Freshness Timeline
(refreshed 0× in last 7d / 7× in last 30d)
Each row is a source pipeline that fetched or updated this CVE on that date, with what changed. For example, "NVD update" means NVD published or revised its analysis for this CVE; "MITRE cvelistV5" means we ingested or refreshed it from the CNA feed. Most recent first.
- 2026-08-15 01:24 UTCEPSS rescore
- 2026-08-08 16:31 UTCEPSS rescore
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- 2026-07-26 13:36 UTCEG score recompute▲ 5.00
- 2026-07-25 14:12 UTCEPSS rescore
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- 2026-07-23 00:56 UTCEG score recompute
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- 2026-07-20 17:03 UTCEPSS rescore
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- 2026-05-30 20:32 UTCEG score recompute
- 2026-05-30 20:32 UTCVendor advisory
- 2026-05-30 20:32 UTCGHSA enrichment
- 2026-05-29 13:40 UTCEPSS rescore
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- 2026-05-18 21:29 UTCEPSS rescore
Publicly available exploits
(1 reference)Working exploit code is in the public domain (1 Exploit-DB entry). Defenders should treat patch urgency accordingly — public PoCs typically lead to mass-exploitation within 24-72 hours.
- Exploit-DBEDB-32292✓ verifiedFirst seen Aug 23, 2008
Ruby 1.9 - REXML Remote Denial of Service
Open source ↗
Related CVEs(same vendor + same CWE)
Same vendor
10 shownredhat
- CVE-2001-0825EG 10.0HIGH
- CVE-2001-1009EG 10.0EPSS p93HIGH
- CVE-2001-0554EG 10.0EPSS p98HIGH
- CVE-2001-1162EG 10.0EPSS p96HIGH
- CVE-2001-0414EG 10.0EPSS p100HIGH
- CVE-2001-0191EG 10.0EPSS p92HIGH
- CVE-2001-0301EG 10.0EPSS p91HIGH
- CVE-2001-0197EG 10.0EPSS p96HIGH
- CVE-2001-0233EG 10.0EPSS p96HIGH
- CVE-2001-0010EG 10.0EPSS p98HIGH
Same CWE
10 shownCWE-20
- CVE-2005-0050EG 10.0EPSS p99HIGH
- CVE-2004-1019EG 10.0EPSS p94HIGH
- CVE-2004-0840EG 10.0EPSS p98HIGH
- CVE-2003-1425EG 10.0EPSS p96HIGH
- CVE-2003-1487EG 10.0EPSS p94HIGH
- CVE-2002-1874EG 10.0HIGH
- CVE-2002-2236EG 10.0EPSS p91HIGH
- CVE-2002-2365EG 10.0HIGH
- CVE-2002-1358EG 10.0EPSS p93HIGH
- CVE-2002-1359EG 10.0EPSS p100HIGH
Frequently asked(4)
What is CVE-2008-3790?
When was CVE-2008-3790 disclosed?
Is CVE-2008-3790 actively exploited?
How do I remediate CVE-2008-3790?
Dependency Blast Radius
See which npm, PyPI, Go, and Maven packages are affected by CVE-2008-3790
Is Your Infrastructure Affected by CVE-2008-3790?
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