# CVE-2011-4642: Cross-site request forgery in n/a

> Remote authenticated administrators can execute arbitrary code via CSRF in Splunk Web's mappy command, requiring an upgrade to fix.

- **Severity:** Medium 4.6 (`AV:N/AC:H/Au:S/C:P/I:P/A:P`)
- **Exploited in the wild:** Not known
- **Login needed:** An administrator
- **Attackable:** Over the internet
- **Victim action needed:** A user has to click or open something
- **Fix available:** No
- **Published:** 3 Jan 2012
- **Updated:** 7 Aug 2024
- **Also known as:** CVE-2011-4779, GHSA-c55j-fmh7-83pp

## What is CVE-2011-4642?

CVE-2011-4642 is a medium-severity vulnerability in Splunk Splunk, published on 3 Jan 2012. An attacker needs administrator access to exploit it, and only if a user opens a file or follows a link.

### Official description

mappy.py in Splunk Web in Splunk 4.2.x before 4.2.5 does not properly restrict use of the mappy command to access Python classes, which allows remote authenticated administrators to execute arbitrary code by leveraging the sys module in a request to the search application, as demonstrated by a cross-site request forgery (CSRF) attack, aka SPL-45172.

Weakness: CWE-352 (Cross-Site Request Forgery)

## Which versions are affected by CVE-2011-4642?

It affects 1 product.


Products: Splunk Splunk.

## How do I fix CVE-2011-4642?

No fix has been published for CVE-2011-4642 yet. Limit exposure of the affected software until one is available.

## Is CVE-2011-4642 being exploited?

It is not confirmed as exploited in the wild, but public exploit code for CVE-2011-4642 exists.

Public exploit code:

- Splunk Search Remote Code Execution (metasploit)
- Splunk - Remote Command Execution (exploitdb)

## Other vulnerabilities in Splunk Splunk

- [CVE-2026-20253](https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2026-20253/): Splunk Enterprise Missing Authentication for Critical Function (critical 9.8, exploited in the wild)
- [CVE-2026-76268](https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2026-76268/): Missing Authentication for Critical Function in the Patroni REST API in Splunk Enterprise (critical 9.8)
- [CVE-2026-76284](https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2026-76284/): Improper Neutralization in Splunk Enterprise (critical 9.8)
- [CVE-2026-76285](https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2026-76285/): Improper Adherence to Coding Standards in Splunk Enterprise (critical 9.8)
- [CVE-2017-17067](https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2017-17067/): Auth bypass in n/a (critical 9.8)

## Fix prompt for AI coding agents

```text
Check this codebase for CVE-2011-4642 and fix it if it is affected.

What it is: CVE-2011-4642 is a medium-severity vulnerability in Splunk Splunk, published on 3 Jan 2012. An attacker needs administrator access to exploit it, and only if a user opens a file or follows a link.
Exploitation: It is not confirmed as exploited in the wild, but public exploit code for CVE-2011-4642 exists.

Affected product: Splunk Splunk. No package-level version data is available, so check the vendor advisory linked from the reference page.

Task:
1. Search the dependency manifests and lockfiles (for example package.json, package-lock.json, requirements.txt, poetry.lock, uv.lock, pom.xml, build.gradle, go.mod, Cargo.lock, Gemfile.lock) and any Dockerfiles for the affected packages, including transitive dependencies.
2. If an affected version is in use, upgrade it to the fixed version for its release line with the project's package manager, so the lockfile is regenerated. Prefer the smallest upgrade that fixes it.
3. If there is no fix, or the upgrade would break the build, do not guess: explain the risk and the safest workaround instead.
4. Run the tests and summarise what changed and why.
5. If nothing in the project is affected, say so and change nothing.

Reference: https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2011-4642/ (Markdown: https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2011-4642/index.md)
```

## Sources

- CVE record: https://www.cve.org/CVERecord?id=CVE-2011-4642
- NVD: https://nvd.nist.gov/vuln/detail/CVE-2011-4642
- OSV: https://osv.dev/vulnerability/CVE-2011-4642

---
From sbomify Insights: https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2011-4642/
Summaries are generated and may contain mistakes; the official description above is the record.