# CVE-2013-2004: Denial of service in n/a

> A malicious X server can cause a denial of service via stack consumption in libX11 due to unrestricted recursion depth when processing file inclusion directives.

- **Severity:** Medium 6.8 (`AV:N/AC:M/Au:N/C:P/I:P/A:P`)
- **Exploited in the wild:** Not known
- **Login needed:** Not needed
- **Attackable:** Local or same network only
- **Victim action needed:** Not needed
- **Fix available:** Yes
- **Published:** 15 Jun 2013
- **Updated:** 6 Aug 2024
- **Also known as:** DEBIAN-CVE-2013-2004, GHSA-wmfq-hvmh-r97h

## What is CVE-2013-2004?

CVE-2013-2004 is a medium-severity denial of service vulnerability in n/a, published on 15 Jun 2013. It can only be exploited from the same machine or local network, with no action from the victim.

### Official description

The (1) GetDatabase and (2) _XimParseStringFile functions in X.org libX11 1.5.99.901 (1.6 RC1) and earlier do not restrict the recursion depth when processing directives to include files, which allows X servers to cause a denial of service (stack consumption) via a crafted file.

Weakness: CWE-119 (Improper Restriction of Operations within the Bounds of a Memory Buffer)

## Which versions are affected by CVE-2013-2004?

It affects 1 product.


Products: X Libx11.

## How do I fix CVE-2013-2004?

Upgrade to a fixed version.

## Is CVE-2013-2004 being exploited?

There is no known exploitation of CVE-2013-2004 in the wild and no public exploit code.

## Other vulnerabilities in n/a

- [CVE-2013-1997](https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2013-1997/): Memory corruption in n/a (medium 6.8)

## Fix prompt for AI coding agents

```text
Check this codebase for CVE-2013-2004 and fix it if it is affected.

What it is: CVE-2013-2004 is a medium-severity denial of service vulnerability in n/a, published on 15 Jun 2013. It can only be exploited from the same machine or local network, with no action from the victim.
Exploitation: There is no known exploitation of CVE-2013-2004 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-2013-2004/ (Markdown: https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2013-2004/index.md)
```

## Sources

- CVE record: https://www.cve.org/CVERecord?id=CVE-2013-2004
- NVD: https://nvd.nist.gov/vuln/detail/CVE-2013-2004
- OSV: https://osv.dev/vulnerability/CVE-2013-2004

---
From sbomify Insights: https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2013-2004/
Summaries are generated and may contain mistakes; the official description above is the record.