cbcvebase.
CVE-2008-5416
published 2008-12-10

CVE-2008-5416: Heap-based buffer overflow in Microsoft SQL Server 2000 SP4, 8.00.2050, 8.00.2039, and earlier; SQL Server 2000 Desktop Engine (MSDE 2000) SP4; SQL Server 2005…

PriorityP273critical9CVSS 2.0
AVNACLAuSCCICAC
EXPLOIT
EPSS
87.04%
99.7th percentile
Heap-based buffer overflow in Microsoft SQL Server 2000 SP4, 8.00.2050, 8.00.2039, and earlier; SQL Server 2000 Desktop Engine (MSDE 2000) SP4; SQL Server 2005 SP2 and 9.00.1399.06; SQL Server 2000 Desktop Engine (WMSDE) on Windows Server 2003 SP1 and SP2; and Windows Internal Database (WYukon) SP2 allows remote authenticated users to cause a denial of service (access violation exception) or execute arbitrary code by calling the sp_replwritetovarbin extended stored procedure with a set of invalid parameters that trigger memory overwrite, aka "SQL Server sp_replwritetovarbin Limited Memory Overwrite Vulnerability."

Affected

7 ranges
VendorProductVersion rangeFixed in
microsoftsql_server
microsoftsql_server
vmwareesxi
vmwarevmware_tools
vmwarevmware_vcenter_server
vmwarevmware_vsphere
vmwarevmware_workstation

Detection & IOCsextracted from sources · hover to see the quote

commandsp_replwritetovarbin
port1434
processsqlservr.exe
bytes
\x81\xc4\xf0\xef\xff\xff
  • Monitor SQL Server audit logs and network traffic for sp_replwritetovarbin invocations, especially from non-replication accounts or via SQL injection vectors.
  • Snort/IDS rules were released on 2008-12-11 specifically to detect exploitation of CVE-2008-5416; reference VRT advisory vrt-rules-2008-12-11 for rule content.
  • The exploit uses a PrependEncoder stub (\x81\xc4\xf0\xef\xff\xff — ADD ESP,-4112) prepended to shellcode; scanning SQL Server payloads for this byte sequence can identify exploit attempts.
  • The exploit targets TCP port 1433 (default MSSQL) and uses UDP port 1434 for fingerprinting; anomalous UDP 1434 probes followed by TCP 1433 sp_replwritetovarbin calls are a strong indicator.
  • The exploit payload space is 512 bytes with EXITFUNC=seh; look for SEH-based shellcode patterns in MSSQL TDS streams following sp_replwritetovarbin calls.
  • ·Exploitation requires an authenticated database session; however, the vulnerability can also be reached via SQL injection, lowering the effective authentication barrier.
  • ·The MSSQL server service does not automatically restart by default after a crash; a failed exploit that crashes the service before stack hijack will result in a persistent DoS.
  • ·Microsoft silently patched this vulnerability in SQL Server 2005 SP3 before the public MS09-004 advisory; environments on SP3 may already be protected without explicit patch awareness.
  • ·The Metasploit SQL-injection variant (ms09_004_sp_replwritetovarbin_sqli) uses automatic target detection and ROP chains entirely within sqlservr.exe address space, making it highly reliable across multiple SP levels.
CVEs like this are exactly what “Exploited This Week” covers.

Every Monday: what got weaponized or added to CISA KEV in the last seven days — each CVE cross-linked to its PoC, Nuclei template, and detection rule. Free, one email a week, unsubscribe in one click.