CVE-2008-2375: Memory leak in a certain Red Hat deployment of vsftpd before 2.0.5 on Red Hat Enterprise Linux (RHEL) 3 and 4,

This month

HIGH 7.1WATCHLISTDOWNGRADE

CVE-2008-2375 is a high-severity flaw (CVSS 7.1) affecting vsftpd. Below: why it ranks where it does, which versions are affected, what to do, and the exact commands.

Memory leak in a certain Red Hat deployment of vsftpd before 2.0.5 on Red Hat Enterprise Linux (RHEL) 3 and 4, when PAM is used, allows remote attackers to cause a denial of service (memory consumption) via a large number of invalid authentication attempts within the same session, a different vulnerability than CVE-2007-5962.

Why this priority

High severity
Public exploit reference
On your watchlist

No fix is published yet: follow the downgrade or mitigation steps.

Risk facts

CVSS score	7.1 (High)
EPSS exploit chance	3.7% (top 10%)
CISA exploited list	No
Weakness	CWE-399
Published	2008-07-09
Last modified	2026-06-16

Publisher (CNA): Red Hat, Inc. · Vendor: redhat

Last updated 2026-06-16 · Sources: CVE Program, NVD, CISA KEV, EPSS and vendor advisories · How we score

Am I affected?

Timeline

2008-07-09 00:41 UTCPublished CVE record published
2026-06-16 22:53 UTCUpdated Record last modified

redhat vsftpd DOWNGRADE

Affected: 0.0.1 · 0.0.2 · 0.0.3 · 0.0.4 · 0.0.5 · 0.0.6 · 0.0.7 · 0.0.8

Fixed in: no fixed release known

Safe to downgrade to: a release before 0.0.1

1. Check installed version

apt-cache policy vsftpd || rpm -q vsftpd || vsftpd --version

2. No fixed release: DOWNGRADE to a release before 0.0.1 (Debian / Ubuntu)

apt-cache madison vsftpd sudo apt install vsftpd=<VERSION_BEFORE_0.0.1> sudo apt-mark hold vsftpd

2. No fixed release: DOWNGRADE (RHEL / Amazon Linux / Fedora)

dnf --showduplicates list vsftpd sudo dnf downgrade vsftpd-<VERSION_BEFORE_0.0.1> sudo dnf versionlock add vsftpd

Downgrade risk

Downgrading can break dependent software and may reopen older bugs. Read the distro advisory first and test on a non-production host.

After downgrade

Restart the service, and keep the package held until a fixed release ships.

Verify at the official source NVD · CVE Program · Report a problem with this page
Scores and fixes here are computed automatically from those and other public sources. Confirm with the vendor advisory before changing production systems.

Quick answers

How do I fix CVE-2008-2375?

vsftpd: downgrade or apply the listed mitigation. Exact commands for each OS are on this page.

Is CVE-2008-2375 being exploited?

CVE-2008-2375 is not on the CISA Known Exploited Vulnerabilities list at the time of the last update. Check again, as this can change.

What does CVE-2008-2375 affect?

CVE-2008-2375 affects vsftpd. Severity is high (CVSS 7.1). Memory leak in a certain Red Hat deployment of vsftpd before 2.0.5 on Red Hat Enterprise Linux (RHEL) 3 and 4, when PAM is used, allows remote attackers to cause a denial of service (memory consumption) via a large number of invalid authent

How urgent is CVE-2008-2375?

Priority 57/100. High severity; Public exploit reference; On your watchlist

Software pages

Red Hat Enterprise Linux vulnerabilities · vsftpd vulnerabilities

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References

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