How severe is CVE-2008-5716?

CVE-2008-5716 has a CVSS 2.0 base score of 7.2, rated high severity.

Is CVE-2008-5716 being actively exploited?

It is not currently listed in CISA's KEV catalog. Its EPSS exploit-prediction score is 0% (28th percentile), an estimate of the probability of exploitation in the next 30 days.

What products are affected by CVE-2008-5716?

CVE-2008-5716 affects Citrix Xen. See the affected-products list for the exact vulnerable versions.

How do I fix CVE-2008-5716?

Review the linked vendor and NVD advisories for patched versions and mitigations, then upgrade or apply the recommended workaround. Given its high severity, prioritise patching exposed systems.

When was CVE-2008-5716 published?

CVE-2008-5716 was published on 2008-12-24 and last updated on 2026-06-16.

CVE-2008-5716

CVE-2008-5716 is a high-severity vulnerability in Citrix Xen with a CVSS 2.0 base score of 7.2. It is not currently listed as actively exploited by CISA, and its EPSS exploit-prediction score is low. The underlying weakness is classified as CWE-264.

Key facts

Severity: High (CVSS 2.0 base score 7.2)
EPSS exploit prediction: 0% (28th percentile)
Actively exploited: Not listed in CISA KEV
Weakness: CWE-264
Affected product: Citrix Xen
Published: 2008-12-24
Last modified: 2026-06-16

Description

xend in Xen 3.3.0 does not properly restrict a guest VM's write access within the /local/domain xenstore directory tree, which allows guest OS users to cause a denial of service and possibly have unspecified other impact by writing to (1) console/tty, (2) console/limit, or (3) image/device-model-pid. NOTE: this issue exists because of erroneous set_permissions calls in the fix for CVE-2008-4405.

Frequently asked questions

What is CVE-2008-5716?: xend in Xen 3.3.0 does not properly restrict a guest VM's write access within the /local/domain xenstore directory tree, which allows guest OS users to cause a denial of service and possibly have unspecified other impact by writing to (1) console/tty, (2) console/limit, or (3) image/device-model-pid. NOTE: this issue exists because of erroneous set_permissions calls in the fix for CVE-2008-4405.
How severe is CVE-2008-5716?: CVE-2008-5716 has a CVSS 2.0 base score of 7.2, rated high severity.
Is CVE-2008-5716 being actively exploited?: It is not currently listed in CISA's KEV catalog. Its EPSS exploit-prediction score is 0% (28th percentile), an estimate of the probability of exploitation in the next 30 days.
What products are affected by CVE-2008-5716?: CVE-2008-5716 affects Citrix Xen. See the affected-products list for the exact vulnerable versions.
How do I fix CVE-2008-5716?: Review the linked vendor and NVD advisories for patched versions and mitigations, then upgrade or apply the recommended workaround. Given its high severity, prioritise patching exposed systems.
When was CVE-2008-5716 published?: CVE-2008-5716 was published on 2008-12-24 and last updated on 2026-06-16.

References

Affected products (1)

cpe:2.3:a:citrix:xen:3.3.0:*:*:*:*:*:*:*

More vulnerabilities in Citrix Xen

CVE-2011-1898 — High (CVSS 7.4): Xen 4.1 before 4.1.1 and 4.0 before 4.0.2, when using PCI passthrough on Intel VT-d chipsets that do not have interrupt…
CVE-2008-4405 — High (CVSS 7.2): xend in Xen 3.0.3 does not properly limit the contents of the /local/domain xenstore directory tree, and does not…
CVE-2011-1583 — Medium (CVSS 6.9): Multiple integer overflows in tools/libxc/xc_dom_bzimageloader.c in Xen 3.2, 3.3, 4.0, and 4.1 allow local users to…
CVE-2010-4255 — Medium (CVSS 6.1): The fixup_page_fault function in arch/x86/traps.c in Xen 4.0.1 and earlier on 64-bit platforms, when paravirtualization…
CVE-2010-4238 — Medium (CVSS 5.5): The vbd_create function in Xen 3.1.2, when the Linux kernel 2.6.18 on Red Hat Enterprise Linux (RHEL) 5 is used, allows…
CVE-2010-4247 — Medium (CVSS 5.5): The do_block_io_op function in (1) drivers/xen/blkback/blkback.c and (2) drivers/xen/blktap/blktap.c in Xen before…

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