# CVE-2013-0238: Denial of service in n/a

> Remote attackers can crash the IRC server by sending a specially crafted mask that triggers a negative number parsing error.

- **Severity:** Medium 5.0 (`AV:N/AC:L/Au:N/C:N/I:N/A:P`)
- **Exploited in the wild:** Not known
- **Login needed:** Not needed
- **Attackable:** Over the internet
- **Victim action needed:** Not needed
- **Fix available:** Yes
- **Published:** 13 Feb 2013
- **Updated:** 6 Aug 2024
- **Also known as:** DEBIAN-CVE-2013-0238, DSA-2618-1, GHSA-9gxx-9pxw-xjp7

## What is CVE-2013-0238?

CVE-2013-0238 is a medium-severity denial of service vulnerability in n/a, published on 13 Feb 2013. An attacker can exploit it over the internet without logging in, with no action from the victim.

### Official description

The try_parse_v4_netmask function in hostmask.c in IRCD-Hybrid before 8.0.6 does not properly validate masks, which allows remote attackers to cause a denial of service (crash) via a mask that causes a negative number to be parsed.

Weakness: CWE-20 (Improper Input Validation)

## Which versions are affected by CVE-2013-0238?

It affects 1 product.


Products: Ircd-Hybrid Ircd-Hybrid.

## How do I fix CVE-2013-0238?

Upgrade to a fixed version.

## Is CVE-2013-0238 being exploited?

There is no known exploitation of CVE-2013-0238 in the wild and no public exploit code.

Public exploit code:

- ircd-hybrid 8.0.5 - Denial of Service (exploitdb)

## Other vulnerabilities in n/a

- [CVE-2009-4016](https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2009-4016/): Integer overflow in n/a (medium 6.8)
- [CVE-2004-0605](https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2004-0605/): Denial of service in n/a (medium 5.0)

## Fix prompt for AI coding agents

```text
Check this codebase for CVE-2013-0238 and fix it if it is affected.

What it is: CVE-2013-0238 is a medium-severity denial of service vulnerability in n/a, published on 13 Feb 2013. An attacker can exploit it over the internet without logging in, with no action from the victim.
Exploitation: There is no known exploitation of CVE-2013-0238 in the wild and no public exploit code.

Affected product: n/a. 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-2013-0238/ (Markdown: https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2013-0238/index.md)
```

## Sources

- CVE record: https://www.cve.org/CVERecord?id=CVE-2013-0238
- NVD: https://nvd.nist.gov/vuln/detail/CVE-2013-0238
- OSV: https://osv.dev/vulnerability/CVE-2013-0238

---
From sbomify Insights: https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2013-0238/
Summaries are generated and may contain mistakes; the official description above is the record.