CVE-2008-2540
HIGHEPSS 94th pctlDescription
Apple Safari on Mac OS X, and before 3.1.2 on Windows, does not prompt the user before downloading an object that has an unrecognized content type, which allows remote attackers to place malware into the (1) Desktop directory on Windows or (2) Downloads directory on Mac OS X, and subsequently allows remote attackers to execute arbitrary code on Windows by leveraging an untrusted search path vulnerability in (a) Internet Explorer 7 on Windows XP or (b) the SearchPath function in Windows XP, Vista, and Server 2003 and 2008, aka a "Carpet Bomb" and a "Blended Threat Elevation of Privilege Vulnerability," a different issue than CVE-2008-1032. NOTE: Apple considers this a vulnerability only because the Microsoft products can load application libraries from the desktop and, as of 20080619, has not covered the issue in an advisory for Mac OS X.
How to fix
Remediation is compiled from vendor and distribution security advisories. Always confirm against the linked source for your exact version and platform.
CVSS v2 Vector
No CVSS vector data available.
Exploit Intelligence
High risk: more likely to be exploited than 94% of all known CVEs.
References
Related Vulnerabilities
Other CWE-264 (Permissions, Privileges, and Access Controls) vulnerabilities, ordered by exploit likelihood. View all
| CVE | Severity | CVSS | EPSS | Exploited | Fix |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| CVE-2012-1456 | Medium | 4.3 | 100% | - | - |
| CVE-2012-1459 | Medium | 4.3 | 100% | - | Fix |
| CVE-2012-1446 | Medium | 4.3 | 100% | - | - |
| CVE-2012-1443 | Medium | 4.3 | 100% | - | - |
| CVE-2012-1442 | Medium | 4.3 | 99% | - | - |
| CVE-2012-1457 | Medium | 4.3 | 98% | - | Fix |
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Start freeThis product uses NVD data but is not endorsed or certified by the NVD. EPSS scores courtesy of FIRST.org (https://www.first.org/epss). Source: CISA KEV Catalog. Data as of 2026-04-23.