Directory traversal vulnerability in the AuthCheck filter in the Admin Console in Openfire 3.6.0a and earlier allows remote attackers to bypass authentication and access the admin interface via a .. (dot dot) in a URI that matches the Exclude-Strings list, as demonstrated by a /setup/setup-/.. sequence in a URI.
CVE-2008-6508
This CVE was only ever scored under CVSS v2.0. NVD CVSS v2.0 base 7.5 — v2 rates that HIGH (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:P/I:P/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 83.4% exploitation probability in the next 30 days, which is reflected in EG Risk but does not lift the v2 base. Confidence: LOW.
- High exploitation likelihood — EPSS 83%
- Public exploit code is available (Metasploit, Exploit-DB (verified), epss top5pct, epss high, public exploit)
No vendor fix yet — apply a workaround or compensating control (WAF / firewall / segmentation) and watch for a patch.
- CVSS v2.0 (legacy)
- 7.5HIGHNVD never assigned a CVSS v3 rating to this CVE
- EG Score
- 7.5(low)
- EG Risk
- 72(Track)EG Risk 72/100SSVC: 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 computedSeverity75% × 45%Exploitation83% × 40%Automatability30% × 15%Action: Routine — remediate on your standard cadence. - EPSS PROB
- 83%
- EPSS %ILE
- 100%
- KEV
- Not listed
Published
March 23, 2009
Last Modified
April 23, 2026
References (22)
- cve@mitrehttp://osvdb.org/49663
- cve@mitrehttp://secunia.com/advisories/32478
- cve@mitrehttp://www.andreas-kurtz.de/advisories/AKADV2008-001-v1.0.txt
- cve@mitrehttp://www.andreas-kurtz.de/archives/63
- cve@mitrehttp://www.igniterealtime.org/builds/openfire/docs/latest/changelog.html
- cve@mitrehttp://www.igniterealtime.org/issues/browse/JM-1489
- cve@mitrehttp://www.securityfocus.com/archive/1/498162/100/0/threaded
- cve@mitrehttp://www.securityfocus.com/bid/32189
- cve@mitrehttp://www.vupen.com/english/advisories/2008/3061
- cve@mitrehttps://exchange.xforce.ibmcloud.com/vulnerabilities/46488
- cve@mitrehttps://www.exploit-db.com/exploits/7075
- af854a3a-2127-422b-91ae-364da2661108http://osvdb.org/49663
- af854a3a-2127-422b-91ae-364da2661108http://secunia.com/advisories/32478
- af854a3a-2127-422b-91ae-364da2661108http://www.andreas-kurtz.de/advisories/AKADV2008-001-v1.0.txt
- af854a3a-2127-422b-91ae-364da2661108http://www.andreas-kurtz.de/archives/63
Weakness Classification(1)
MITRE Common Weakness Enumeration — the root-cause categories this CVE belongs to.
Data Freshness Timeline
(refreshed 7× in last 7d / 18× 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.
- 2026-07-26 13:37 UTCEG score recompute▲ 7.50
- 2026-07-24 14:12 UTCEPSS rescore
- 2026-07-23 00:57 UTCEG score recompute
- 2026-07-23 00:36 UTCEG score recompute▼ 8.70
- 2026-07-23 00:02 UTCEG score recompute▲ 8.70
- 2026-07-22 21:41 UTCEG score recompute
- 2026-07-22 14:03 UTCEPSS rescore
- 2026-07-20 17:03 UTCEPSS rescore
- 2026-07-20 17:03 UTCEPSS rescore
- 2026-07-15 16:54 UTCEPSS rescore
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- 2026-07-13 06:07 UTCEPSS rescore
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- 2026-07-08 15:10 UTCEPSS rescore
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- 2026-06-28 14:03 UTCEPSS rescore
- 2026-06-25 13:46 UTCEPSS rescore
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- 2026-06-23 21:29 UTCEPSS rescore
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- 2026-06-22 14:22 UTCEPSS rescore
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- 2026-06-21 01:56 UTCEPSS rescore
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- 2026-06-21 01:56 UTCEPSS rescore
- 2026-06-16 17:49 UTCEPSS rescore
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- 2026-06-14 23:14 UTCEPSS rescore
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- 2026-06-12 23:08 UTCEPSS rescore
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- 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
- 2026-06-07 15:22 UTCEPSS rescore
- 2026-06-06 13:44 UTCEPSS rescore
- 2026-06-06 13:44 UTCEPSS rescore
- 2026-06-06 13:44 UTCEPSS rescore
- 2026-06-05 22:44 UTCEPSS rescore
- 2026-06-05 22:44 UTCEPSS rescore
- 2026-06-05 06:07 UTCEPSS rescore
- 2026-06-04 13:09 UTCEPSS rescore
- 2026-06-04 13:09 UTCEPSS rescore
- 2026-06-01 13:49 UTCEPSS rescore
- 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 17:37 UTCEG score recompute
- 2026-05-30 17:37 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
- 2026-05-26 13:41 UTCEPSS rescore
- 2026-05-26 13:41 UTCEPSS rescore
- 2026-05-22 21:15 UTCEPSS rescore
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- 2026-05-20 22:37 UTCEPSS rescore
- 2026-05-20 22:37 UTCEPSS rescore
- 2026-05-18 21:29 UTCEPSS rescore
Publicly available exploits
(3 references)Working exploit code is in the public domain (1 Metasploit module) (2 Exploit-DB entries). Defenders should treat patch urgency accordingly — public PoCs typically lead to mass-exploitation within 24-72 hours.
- Exploit-DBEDB-19432✓ verifiedFirst seen Jun 28, 2012
Openfire Server 3.6.0a - Admin Console Authentication Bypass (Metasploit)
Open source ↗ - Metasploitexploit/multi/http/openfire_auth_bypass✓ verifiedFirst seen Nov 10, 2008
Openfire Admin Console Authentication Bypass
Open source ↗ - Exploit-DBEDB-7075✓ verifiedFirst seen Nov 9, 2008
Openfire Server 3.6.0a - Authentication Bypass / SQL Injection / Cross-Site Scripting
Open source ↗
Related CVEs(same CWE)
Frequently asked(4)
What is CVE-2008-6508?
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Is CVE-2008-6508 actively exploited?
How do I remediate CVE-2008-6508?
Dependency Blast Radius
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