What is CVE-2008-5227?

CVE-2008-5227 is a vulnerability in Phpcow, classified under Code Injection. Published 2008-11-25.

Is CVE-2008-5227 known to be exploited?

1 public proof-of-concept repositories are indexed. Not currently listed in the CISA KEV catalog.

RCE in Phpcow

CVE-2008-5227

Unspecified vulnerability in PHPCow allows remote attackers to execute arbitrary code via unknown vectors, related to a "file inclusion vulnerability," as exploited in the wild in November 2008.

Vulnerability class: RCE (Remote Code Execution)

Published 2008-11-25 · last modified 2026-06-16.

CVSS v2 metric

CVSS v2 base score 10.0 (High). Vector: AV:N/AC:L/Au:N/C:C/I:C/A:C. This CVE predates CVSS v3 and has no v3 score from NVD.

EPSS exploit prediction

EPSS: 0.047 (91.5th percentile), scored 2026-10-02.

Low probability of exploitation in the next 30 days, but still tracked. 91st percentile — 91.5% of CVEs in the catalogue have a lower EPSS than this one. How to read EPSS.

EPSS over last 30 days · oldest: 0.047 · newest: 0.047 · change: 0.000

Affected products

Phpcow

Weakness classification (CWE)

CWE-94 — Code Injection

Public proof-of-concept exploits

ARPSyndicate/cve-scores

References

exchange.xforce.ibmcloud.com/vulnerabilities/46714 (vdb-entry)
www.securityfocus.com/bid/32361 (vdb-entry)
www.kb.cert.org/vuls/id/515417 (US Government Resource, third-party-advisory)

Frequently asked questions

What is CVE-2008-5227?: CVE-2008-5227 is a vulnerability in Phpcow, classified under Code Injection. Published 2008-11-25.
Is CVE-2008-5227 known to be exploited?: 1 public proof-of-concept repositories are indexed. Not currently listed in the CISA KEV catalog.