The TCP implementation in (1) Linux, (2) platforms based on BSD Unix, (3) Microsoft Windows, (4) Cisco products, and probably other operating systems allows remote attackers to cause a denial of service (connection queue exhaustion) via multiple vectors that manipulate information in the TCP state table, as demonstrated by sockstress.
CVE-2008-4609
- No confirmed exploitation signals yet
No vendor fix yet — apply a workaround or compensating control (WAF / firewall / segmentation) and watch for a patch.
- CVSS v3
- —
- EG Score
- 0.0(none)
- EPSS
- 98.1%
- KEV
- Not listed
Published
October 20, 2008
Last Modified
April 23, 2026
References (30)
- cve@mitrehttp://blog.robertlee.name/2008/10/conjecture-speculation.html
- cve@mitrehttp://insecure.org/stf/tcp-dos-attack-explained.html
- cve@mitrehttp://lists.immunitysec.com/pipermail/dailydave/2008-October/005360.html
- cve@mitrehttp://marc.info/?l=bugtraq&m=125856010926699&w=2
- cve@mitrehttp://searchsecurity.techtarget.com.au/articles/27154-TCP-is-fundamentally-borked
- cve@mitrehttp://www.cisco.com/en/US/products/products_security_advisory09186a0080af511d.shtml
- cve@mitrehttp://www.cisco.com/en/US/products/products_security_response09186a0080a15120.html
- cve@mitrehttp://www.cpni.gov.uk/Docs/tn-03-09-security-assessment-TCP.pdf
- cve@mitrehttp://www.mandriva.com/security/advisories?name=MDVSA-2013:150
- cve@mitrehttp://www.oracle.com/technetwork/topics/security/cpujul2012-392727.html
- cve@mitrehttp://www.outpost24.com/news/news-2008-10-02.html
- cve@mitrehttp://www.us-cert.gov/cas/techalerts/TA09-251A.html
- cve@mitrehttps://docs.microsoft.com/en-us/security-updates/securitybulletins/2009/ms09-048
- cve@mitrehttps://oval.cisecurity.org/repository/search/definition/oval%3Aorg.mitre.oval%3Adef%3A6340
- cve@mitrehttps://www.cert.fi/haavoittuvuudet/2008/tcp-vulnerabilities.html
Data Freshness Timeline
(refreshed 8× in last 7d / 38× 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.
- 2026-07-07 23:27 UTCOSV refresh
- 2026-07-06 16:23 UTCEPSS rescore
- 2026-07-05 02:26 UTCEPSS rescore
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- 2026-07-04 06:27 UTCEPSS rescore
- 2026-07-02 14:00 UTCEPSS rescore
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- 2026-06-30 23:19 UTCEPSS rescore
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- 2026-06-25 13:46 UTCEPSS rescore
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- 2026-06-24 14:02 UTCEPSS rescore
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- 2026-06-23 21:29 UTCEPSS rescore
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- 2026-06-21 01:56 UTCEPSS rescore
- 2026-06-21 01:56 UTCEPSS rescore
- 2026-06-19 11:25 UTCOSV refresh
- 2026-06-18 17:49 UTCEPSS rescore
- 2026-06-18 17:49 UTCEPSS rescore
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- 2026-06-17 17:49 UTCEPSS rescore
- 2026-06-17 17:49 UTCEPSS rescore
- 2026-06-16 17:49 UTCEPSS rescore
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- 2026-06-15 17:44 UTCEPSS rescore
- 2026-06-14 23:13 UTCEPSS rescore
- 2026-06-13 22:57 UTCEPSS rescore
- 2026-06-12 23:08 UTCEPSS rescore
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- 2026-06-11 13:56 UTCEPSS rescore
- 2026-06-10 22:14 UTCEPSS rescore
- 2026-06-10 13:17 UTCEPSS rescore
- 2026-06-08 14:13 UTCEPSS rescore
- 2026-06-07 15:22 UTCEPSS rescore
- 2026-06-06 13:44 UTCEPSS rescore
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- 2026-06-05 06:07 UTCEPSS rescore
- 2026-06-04 13:09 UTCEPSS rescore
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- 2026-06-02 20:10 UTCEPSS rescore
- 2026-06-02 20:10 UTCEPSS rescore
- 2026-06-01 13:49 UTCEPSS rescore
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- 2026-06-01 13:49 UTCEPSS rescore
- 2026-05-31 22:28 UTCEPSS rescore
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- 2026-05-31 00:13 UTCEPSS rescore
- 2026-05-31 00:13 UTCEPSS rescore
- 2026-05-30 19:53 UTCEG score recompute
- 2026-05-30 19:53 UTCGHSA enrichment
- 2026-05-29 13:40 UTCEPSS rescore
- 2026-05-28 13:42 UTCEPSS rescore
- 2026-05-28 13:42 UTCEPSS rescore
- 2026-05-28 13:42 UTCEPSS rescore
- 2026-05-27 13:38 UTCEPSS rescore
- 2026-05-27 13:37 UTCEPSS rescore
- 2026-05-26 19:43 UTCOSV refresh
- 2026-05-26 13:41 UTCEPSS rescore
- 2026-05-26 13:41 UTCEPSS rescore
- 2026-05-26 07:16 UTCEPSS rescore
- 2026-05-26 07:16 UTCEPSS rescore
- 2026-05-24 16:43 UTCEPSS rescore
- 2026-05-22 21:15 UTCEPSS rescore
- 2026-05-22 21:15 UTCEPSS rescore
- 2026-05-20 22:37 UTCEPSS rescore
- 2026-05-20 22:36 UTCEPSS rescore
- 2026-05-20 11:20 UTCEPSS rescore
- 2026-05-20 11:20 UTCEPSS rescore
- 2026-05-18 21:29 UTCEPSS rescore
Publicly available exploits
(1 reference)Working exploit code is in the public domain (1 GitHub PoC). Defenders should treat patch urgency accordingly — public PoCs typically lead to mass-exploitation within 24-72 hours.
- GitHub PoCmrclki/sockstressFirst seen May 6, 2016
Sockstress (CVE-2008-4609) DDoS implementation written in Go
Open source ↗
Frequently asked(4)
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