CVE-2008-0166
OpenSSL 0.9.8c-1 up to versions before 0.9.8g-9 on Debian-based operating systems uses a random number generator that generates…
- 7.5HighCVSS base score
- 70.7%Exploitation in 30 daysEPSS · top 0.6% of all CVEs
- NoKnown exploitednot in CISA's KEV catalog
- 3Public exploitsMetasploit, Nuclei and Exploit-DB
Description
OpenSSL 0.9.8c-1 up to versions before 0.9.8g-9 on Debian-based operating systems uses a random number generator that generates predictable numbers, which makes it easier for remote attackers to conduct brute force guessing attacks against cryptographic keys.
Public exploit
An exploit or proof of concept is public: anyone can try it against an unpatched system. The public collections list 3 Exploit-DB entries for it. 3 references of the record are tagged as an exploit.
Show the exploits6
Exploit-DB3 entries
- OpenSSL 0.9.8c-1 < 0.9.8g-9 (Debian and Derivatives) - Predictable PRNG Brute Force SSH (Exploit-DB entry) (opens in a new tab)
EDB-ID 5720remote, linuxpublished 1 Jun 2008Verified
- OpenSSL 0.9.8c-1 < 0.9.8g-9 (Debian and Derivatives) - Predictable PRNG Brute Force SSH (Ruby) (Exploit-DB entry) (opens in a new tab)
EDB-ID 5632remote, linuxpublished 16 May 2008Verified
- OpenSSL 0.9.8c-1 < 0.9.8g-9 (Debian and Derivatives) - Predictable PRNG Brute Force SSH (Exploit-DB entry) (opens in a new tab)
EDB-ID 5622remote, linuxpublished 15 May 2008Verified
References tagged exploit3 references
- 5622 (opens in a new tab)exploitx_transferred
- 5632 (opens in a new tab)exploitx_transferred
- 5720 (opens in a new tab)exploitx_transferred
Modules, templates and exploits as listed by the Metasploit Framework (BSD-3-Clause), ProjectDiscovery's Nuclei templates (MIT) and the Exploit Database (GPLv2), read once a day. Where the data comes from
Timeline
ID reserved
By mitre
- 4 months later
· 4 months later
Published
- 16 years later
· 16 years later
Record updated
Changes after publication (a new score, a public exploit, EPSS crossing 1, 10 or 50 %, leaving KEV) are kept since November 2026; earlier ones are not known.
Scores
| Scored by | CVSS | Score | Vector |
|---|---|---|---|
| NVDNVD · Modified | 3.1 | High7.5 | CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:L/PR:N/UI:N/S:U/C:H/I:N/A:N |
- EPSS (exploitation in 30 days)
- 70.7% · top 0.6% of all CVEs (9 Nov 2026)
The list uses the assigner's score when there is one, then CISA's, then NVD's: High 7.5.
Affected products
n/a
- affected n/a
References
26
- DSA-1576 (opens in a new tab)vendor-advisoryx_transferred
- 5622 (opens in a new tab)exploitx_transferred
- 30221 (opens in a new tab)third-party-advisoryx_transferred
- [rsyncrypto-devel] 20080523 Advisory - Rsyncrypto maybe affected from Debian OpenSSL reduced entropy problem (opens in a new tab)mailing-listx_transferred
- DSA-1571 (opens in a new tab)vendor-advisoryx_transferred
- 29179 (opens in a new tab)vdb-entryx_transferred
- 20080515 Debian generated SSH-Keys working exploit (opens in a new tab)mailing-listx_transferred
- 30239 (opens in a new tab)third-party-advisoryx_transferred
- 30220 (opens in a new tab)third-party-advisoryx_transferred
- USN-612-7 (opens in a new tab)vendor-advisoryx_transferred
- 30231 (opens in a new tab)third-party-advisoryx_transferred
- openssl-rng-weak-security(42375) (opens in a new tab)vdb-entryx_transferred
- http://metasploit.com/users/hdm/tools/debian-openssl/ (opens in a new tab)x_transferred
- 30249 (opens in a new tab)third-party-advisoryx_transferred
- 1020017 (opens in a new tab)vdb-entryx_transferred
- 5632 (opens in a new tab)exploitx_transferred
- USN-612-4 (opens in a new tab)vendor-advisoryx_transferred
- USN-612-2 (opens in a new tab)vendor-advisoryx_transferred
- TA08-137A (opens in a new tab)third-party-advisoryx_transferred
- VU#925211 (opens in a new tab)third-party-advisoryx_transferred
- 5720 (opens in a new tab)exploitx_transferred
- 30136 (opens in a new tab)third-party-advisoryx_transferred
- USN-612-3 (opens in a new tab)vendor-advisoryx_transferred
- USN-612-1 (opens in a new tab)vendor-advisoryx_transferred
- https://16years.secvuln.info (opens in a new tab)x_transferred
- https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=40333169 (opens in a new tab)x_transferred
Sources
The same CVE in the primary databases and aggregators, to check against.
- CVE.org record (opens in a new tab)
- CVE List JSON (GitHub) (opens in a new tab)
- NVD (opens in a new tab)
- FIRST EPSS (opens in a new tab)
- EUVD EUVD-2008-0178 (opens in a new tab)
- OSV.dev (opens in a new tab)
- GitHub Advisories (opens in a new tab)
- CIRCL Vulnerability-Lookup (opens in a new tab)
Badge for a README or a ticket
[](https://cveledger.app/cve/CVE-2008-0166)Record last updated .