CVE-2008-6549: Moin Denial of Service Vulnerability

HIGH
Advisory Identifier: GHSA-wjjc-m3fc-fcm8
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CVSS 7.5
CWE-400
Published
Advisory Summary

CVE-2008-6549 is a HIGH (CVSS 7.5) denial of service vulnerability (CWE-400: Uncontrolled Resource Consumption) affecting Moin libraries in the PyPI ecosystem. The issue involves moinmoin denial of service vulnerability via password_checker function. Remediation is available by upgrading affected packages to version 1.6.1.

CVE-2008-6549 at a Glance

CVE Identifier CVE-2008-6549
GHSA Identifier GHSA-wjjc-m3fc-fcm8
Severity HIGH
CVSS v3.1 Base Score 7.5
CWE Classification CWE-400: Uncontrolled Resource Consumption
Affected Product Moin
Package Ecosystem PyPI
Published Date
Last Updated

Security Impact

CVSS: 7.5

The security impact metrics below are parsed directly from the CVSS v3.1 vector string (CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:L/PR:N/UI:N/S:U/C:N/I:N/A:H).

Attack Vector Network (AV:N)
Attack Complexity Low (AC:L)
Privileges Required None (PR:N)
User Interaction None (UI:N)
Scope Unchanged (S:U)
Confidentiality None (C:N)
Integrity None (I:N)
Availability High (A:H)

How to Fix CVE-2008-6549

To remediate this vulnerability, upgrade all affected Moin dependencies to a patched release. Both direct and transitive dependencies should be checked, as frameworks or security libraries may pull in vulnerable versions transitively.

moin fixed: 1.6.1 
pip install moin>=1.6.1
Verify Direct and Transitive Dependencies

Run the following command in your project directory to verify that all resolved dependencies use the patched release: 

pip show moin

How to Check if You Are Affected

To determine whether your Python environment is affected by CVE-2008-6549, inspect your installed packages using pip:

pip show moin

Analyze the terminal output to locate any version of Moin in your dependency tree. If any resolved version matches the vulnerable ranges listed in the table below (for example, versions earlier than 1.6.1), your application is affected.

Note: The pip show moin command checks currently installed packages in your active Python environment.

Technical Details

Vulnerability Mechanism & Technical Analysis

This vulnerability is classified under CWE-400: Uncontrolled Resource Consumption, where the product does not properly control the allocation and maintenance of a limited resource. In Moin, software state validation or input boundaries are circumvented during processing. Review the official source advisory statement below for specific affected components, classes, and reproduction details.

Source Advisory Statement

The password_checker function in `config/multiconfig.py` in MoinMoin prior to version 1.6.1 uses the cracklib and python-crack features even though they are not thread-safe, which allows remote attackers to cause a denial of service (segmentation fault and crash) via unknown vectors.

CVE-2008-6549 Affected Moin Versions

1 component(s)
Fixed Versions:
1.6.1
Product / Package Ecosystem Affected Versions Fixed Version
moin
pypi/moin
PyPI
< 1.6.1
1.6.1

References

NVD — CVE-2008-6549 NVD
https://nvd.nist.gov/vuln/detail/CVE-2008-6549
Moin Source Repository REPOSITORY
https://github.com/moinwiki/moin
Moin Source Repository REPOSITORY
https://github.com/pypa/advisory-database/tree/main/vulns/moin/PYSEC-2009-12.yaml
Moin Security Information SECURITY
https://web.archive.org/web/20080410051007/http://moinmo.in/SecurityFixes
web.archive.org/web/20211206185024/... WEB
https://web.archive.org/web/20211206185024/http://hg.moinmo.in/moin/1.6/rev/35ff7a9b1546

Frequently Asked Questions

What is CVE-2008-6549?
CVE-2008-6549 is a security vulnerability in Moin involving MoinMoin Denial of Service vulnerability via password_checker function under CWE-400: Uncontrolled Resource Consumption.
Which Moin versions are affected?
Affected versions include releases prior to 1.6.1 across affected packages: moin.
What version fixes CVE-2008-6549?
Upgrading to 1.6.1 (or the latest patched release for your respective branch) resolves the vulnerability.
Is moin affected?
Yes, moin is affected in releases prior to 1.6.1. Upgrade your dependency to 1.6.1 or later.
What is the CVSS score of CVE-2008-6549?
CVE-2008-6549 has a CVSS v3.1 base score of 7.5 (HIGH) with vector string CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:L/PR:N/UI:N/S:U/C:N/I:N/A:H.
What CWE is associated with CVE-2008-6549?
CVE-2008-6549 is classified under CWE-400: Uncontrolled Resource Consumption (The product does not properly control the allocation and maintenance of a limited resource.).
How can I check PyPI dependencies for CVE-2008-6549?
Run the dependency tree command: 'pip show moin'. This command lists direct and transitive dependencies in your build configuration so you can verify if a vulnerable version is resolved.
Machine-readable OSV JSON OSV v1.5 Schema
Normalized schema output
View Raw JSON 
{
  "schema_version" : "1.4.0",
  "id" : "GHSA-wjjc-m3fc-fcm8",
  "modified" : "2024-11-26T18:40:12Z",
  "published" : "2022-05-17T05:52:47Z",
  "aliases" : [ "CVE-2008-6549" ],
  "summary" : "MoinMoin Denial of Service vulnerability via password_checker function",
  "details" : "The password_checker function in `config/multiconfig.py` in MoinMoin prior to version 1.6.1 uses the cracklib and python-crack features even though they are not thread-safe, which allows remote attackers to cause a denial of service (segmentation fault and crash) via unknown vectors.",
  "severity" : [ {
    "type" : "CVSS_V3",
    "score" : "CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:L/PR:N/UI:N/S:U/C:N/I:N/A:H"
  }, {
    "type" : "CVSS_V4",
    "score" : "CVSS:4.0/AV:N/AC:L/AT:N/PR:N/UI:N/VC:N/VI:N/VA:H/SC:N/SI:N/SA:N"
  } ],
  "affected" : [ {
    "package" : {
      "ecosystem" : "PyPI",
      "name" : "moin"
    },
    "ranges" : [ {
      "type" : "ECOSYSTEM",
      "events" : [ {
        "introduced" : "0"
      }, {
        "fixed" : "1.6.1"
      } ]
    } ]
  } ],
  "references" : [ {
    "type" : "ADVISORY",
    "url" : "https://nvd.nist.gov/vuln/detail/CVE-2008-6549"
  }, {
    "type" : "PACKAGE",
    "url" : "https://github.com/moinwiki/moin"
  }, {
    "type" : "WEB",
    "url" : "https://github.com/pypa/advisory-database/tree/main/vulns/moin/PYSEC-2009-12.yaml"
  }, {
    "type" : "WEB",
    "url" : "https://web.archive.org/web/20080410051007/http://moinmo.in/SecurityFixes"
  }, {
    "type" : "WEB",
    "url" : "https://web.archive.org/web/20211206185024/http://hg.moinmo.in/moin/1.6/rev/35ff7a9b1546"
  } ],
  "database_specific" : {
    "cwe_ids" : [ "CWE-400" ],
    "severity" : "HIGH",
    "github_reviewed" : true,
    "github_reviewed_at" : "2024-02-09T19:33:55Z",
    "nvd_published_at" : "2009-03-30T01:30:00Z"
  }
}