{"id":"CVE-2008-5103","url":"https://www.cyber-defence.io/tools/cve/CVE-2008-5103","generatedAt":"2026-10-27T17:30:46.417Z","title":"(exclamation point) and allows attackers to bypass intended login restrictions.","description":"The (1) python-vm-builder and (2) ubuntu-vm-builder implementations in VMBuilder 0.9 in Ubuntu 8.10 omit the -e option when invoking chpasswd with a root:! argument, which configures the root account with a cleartext password of ! (exclamation point) and allows attackers to bypass intended login restrictions.","published":"2008-11-17T18:18:48.000Z","lastModified":"2026-06-16T22:59:16.000Z","status":"Modified","sourceIdentifier":"cve@mitre.org","cvss":{"version":"2.0","score":7.2,"severity":"HIGH","vector":"AV:L/AC:L/Au:N/C:C/I:C/A:C"},"cwe":["CWE-255"],"affected":["dcgrendel/vmbuilder"],"epss":{"score":0.00467,"percentile":0.40207,"date":"2026-10-26","history":[]},"kev":{"listed":false},"exploits":{"count":0,"verified":false,"firstPublished":null,"source":"Exploit-DB (https://gitlab.com/exploit-database/exploitdb)","entries":[]},"verdict":{"level":"high","text":"High impact if exploited, but EPSS currently rates exploitation as unlikely (0.47%). Schedule it in the normal patch cycle and watch for a rise in EPSS or a public exploit."},"changes":[],"references":[{"url":"http://launchpadlibrarian.net/19619929/vm-builder_0.9-0ubuntu3.1.debdiff","tags":["Exploit"],"source":"cve@mitre.org"},{"url":"http://osvdb.org/49996","source":"cve@mitre.org"},{"url":"http://secunia.com/advisories/32697","tags":["Patch","Vendor Advisory"],"source":"cve@mitre.org"},{"url":"http://www.securityfocus.com/bid/32292","tags":["Patch"],"source":"cve@mitre.org"},{"url":"http://www.ubuntu.com/usn/usn-670-1","tags":["Vendor Advisory"],"source":"cve@mitre.org"},{"url":"https://bugs.launchpad.net/ubuntu/+source/vm-builder/+bug/296841","source":"cve@mitre.org"},{"url":"https://exchange.xforce.ibmcloud.com/vulnerabilities/46603","source":"cve@mitre.org"},{"url":"http://launchpadlibrarian.net/19619929/vm-builder_0.9-0ubuntu3.1.debdiff","tags":["Exploit"],"source":"af854a3a-2127-422b-91ae-364da2661108"},{"url":"http://osvdb.org/49996","source":"af854a3a-2127-422b-91ae-364da2661108"},{"url":"http://secunia.com/advisories/32697","tags":["Patch","Vendor Advisory"],"source":"af854a3a-2127-422b-91ae-364da2661108"},{"url":"http://www.securityfocus.com/bid/32292","tags":["Patch"],"source":"af854a3a-2127-422b-91ae-364da2661108"},{"url":"http://www.ubuntu.com/usn/usn-670-1","tags":["Vendor Advisory"],"source":"af854a3a-2127-422b-91ae-364da2661108"},{"url":"https://bugs.launchpad.net/ubuntu/+source/vm-builder/+bug/296841","source":"af854a3a-2127-422b-91ae-364da2661108"},{"url":"https://exchange.xforce.ibmcloud.com/vulnerabilities/46603","source":"af854a3a-2127-422b-91ae-364da2661108"}],"sources":{"nvd":"https://nvd.nist.gov/vuln/detail/CVE-2008-5103","epss":"https://www.first.org/epss/","kev":"https://www.cisa.gov/known-exploited-vulnerabilities-catalog","exploitdb":"https://www.exploit-db.com/"},"licence":"CC BY 4.0 — link back to the CVE Explorer if you publish the results; upstream data remains subject to its own terms."}