Vulnerability report

Exploited in the wild High confidence Not in CISA KEV

CVE-2008-3704

Visual Studio

Microsoft / Visual Studio

Watch CVE-2008-3704 Browse KEV feed
Severity
CVSS 9.3 · High
Confidence
High
Exploit status
Exploited in the wild
EPSS
55.9%
First observed
—
Last observed
—

Decision summary

What security teams need to know first

Direct answers before the deeper technical record.

What it is

CVE-2008-3704 is an unauthenticated vulnerability affecting Microsoft Visual Studio. Heap-based buffer overflow in the MaskedEdit ActiveX control in Msmask32.ocx 6.0.81.69, and possibly other versions before...

Is it exploited?

Yes. Previdian tracks this CVE as a known exploited vulnerability. Confidence is high. Also confirmed by third-party sources.

Who is affected?

Microsoft / Visual Studio.

What should we do?

Prioritize remediation. Validate affected assets and apply vendor fixes on an accelerated timeline.

Overview

Visual Studio

Heap-based buffer overflow in the MaskedEdit ActiveX control in Msmask32.ocx 6.0.81.69, and possibly other versions before 6.0.84.18, in Microsoft Visual Studio 6.0, Visual Basic 6.0, Visual Studio .NET 2002 SP1 and 2003 SP1, and Visual FoxPro 8.0 SP1 and 9.0 SP1 and SP2 allows remote attackers to execute arbitrary code via a long Mask parameter, related to not "validating property values with boundary checks," as exploited in the wild in August 2008, aka "Masked Edit Control Memory Corruption Vulnerability."

View vendor advisory (opens in new tab)
Published
18 Aug 2008
Exploitation Reported
18 Aug 2008
Attack vector
Remote
Complexity
—
Privileges
None
User interaction
—

Tags

metasploit dotnet

CVE References

  • CVE Record CVE.org · CVE Record https://www.cve.org/CVERecord?id=CVE-2008-3704
  • MS08-070 docs.microsoft.com · Vendor Advisory https://docs.microsoft.com/en-us/security-updates/securitybulletins/2...
  • 31498 secunia.com · Third-Party Advisory http://secunia.com/advisories/31498
  • TA08-344A us-cert.gov · Third-Party Advisory http://www.us-cert.gov/cas/techalerts/TA08-344A.html
  • 6244 exploit-db.com · Exploit https://www.exploit-db.com/exploits/6244
  • 6317 exploit-db.com · Exploit https://www.exploit-db.com/exploits/6317
  • 1020710 securitytracker.com · VDB Entry http://www.securitytracker.com/id?1020710
  • ADV-2008-2380 vupen.com · VDB Entry http://www.vupen.com/english/advisories/2008/2380
  • ADV-2008-3382 vupen.com · VDB Entry http://www.vupen.com/english/advisories/2008/3382
  • oval:org.mitre.oval:def:5794 oval.cisecurity.org · VDB Entry https://oval.cisecurity.org/repository/search/definition/oval%3Aorg.m...
  • 30674 securityfocus.com · VDB Entry http://www.securityfocus.com/bid/30674
  • visualstudio-maskededit-bo(44444) exchange.xforce.ibmcloud.com · VDB Entry https://exchange.xforce.ibmcloud.com/vulnerabilities/44444
  • support.avaya.com/elmodocs2/security/ASA-2008-473.htm support.avaya.com · CVE Record http://support.avaya.com/elmodocs2/security/ASA-2008-473.htm

Exploitation evidence

Why Previdian marks this CVE as exploited

Third-party attestation and first-party sensor observation are shown separately so teams can judge the evidence chain.

Exploited in the wild

CVE

Recorded 18 Aug 2008

A trusted third party reported exploitation.

Proof of concept available

Recorded 28 Apr 2025

Public scanner or PoC coverage increases practical exploitability.

Known exploited vulnerability sources

Per-source evidence links for KEV attestations are available through the Previdian Pro API.

Learn about Pro API access
Source Added
CVE First 2008-08-18 19:00 UTC

Detection

Operational artifacts and observed signals

Make the evidence actionable in scanner, SOC, and edge-control workflows.

Observed signals

Request targets
User-Agents
Callback hosts
0
0
0

Request targets and User-Agents available in Pro. Callback host details available in Enterprise.

Virtual patch status

No Previdian virtual patch is currently available. Future rules ship for ModSecurity, Cloudflare, and AWS WAF.

Learn about virtual patches →

Scanner Artifacts

Scanner and exploit-framework references linked to this CVE.

Scanner Reference Detected
Metasploit https://github.com/rapid7/metasploit-framework/blob/master/modules/exploits/windows/browser/ms08_070_visual_studio_msmask.rb 28 Apr 2025

Risk and context

Severity, weaknesses, and research context

CVSS v2.0

9.3 High

Potential damage if exploited. Separate from whether attackers are using it.

AV:N/AC:M/Au:N/C:C/I:C/A:C

EPSS

55.9%

Estimated chance of exploitation in the next 30 days. Previdian's warning comes from evidence, not this score.

Weaknesses

Improper Restriction of Operations within the Bounds of a Memory Buffer CWE-119

Potential Proof of Concepts

These PoCs are unverified and could contain malware. Use at your own risk.

ms08_070_visual_studio_msmask

metasploit · Created Unknown

Metasploit module for CVE-2008-3704

Timeline

From disclosure to observed exploitation

  1. 15:02 UTC

    Metasploit module available

    Exploit module available

  2. 15:02 UTC

    Public PoC available

    Public proof-of-concept code published

  3. 19:00 UTC

    Added to Previdian KEV Feed

    High-confidence, third-party attested exploitation

  4. 19:00 UTC

    CVE published

    Vulnerability disclosed publicly

  5. 00:00 UTC

    CVE ID reserved

    Identifier reserved by the CNA

Pro API

Automate this intelligence

Confidence, exploit status, sensor telemetry, PoCs, scanner integrations, mentions, and tags are available programmatically for VM, SOC, and CTI workflows.

Start 14-day Pro trial Read API docs
  • Evidence confidence and provenance
  • First-party sensor telemetry
  • PoC and scanner references
  • Affected versions and enrichment
  • Automation-ready JSON delivery

GET /api/v2/pro/kevs/CVE-2008-3704

Free JSON includes basic KEV fields 
{
  "cve_id": "CVE-2008-3704",
  "confidence": "High",
  "cvss_score": 9.3,
  "cvss_estimated": false,
  "epss_score": 0.55917,
  "exploit_status": {
    "exploited_in_the_wild": true,
    "active_exploitation_observed": false
  },
  "sensor_telemetry": { "attempts": 0, "sensors": 0 }
}