# CVE-2013-4120: Denial of service in Katello

> Attackers can cause a denial of service in Katello via the API OAuth authentication mechanism.

- **Severity:** High 7.5 (`CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:L/PR:N/UI:N/S:U/C:N/I:N/A:H`)
- **Exploited in the wild:** Not known
- **Login needed:** Not needed
- **Attackable:** Over the internet
- **Victim action needed:** Not needed
- **Fix available:** No
- **Published:** 10 Dec 2019
- **Updated:** 6 Aug 2024
- **Also known as:** GHSA-j9xv-q659-fr6q

## What is CVE-2013-4120?

CVE-2013-4120 is a high-severity denial of service vulnerability in Katello, published on 10 Dec 2019. An attacker can exploit it over the internet without logging in, with no action from the victim.

### Official description

Katello has a Denial of Service vulnerability in API OAuth authentication

Weakness: CWE-400 (Uncontrolled Resource Consumption)

## Which versions are affected by CVE-2013-4120?

It affects 1 product.


Products: Theforeman Katello.

## How do I fix CVE-2013-4120?

No fix has been published for CVE-2013-4120 yet. Limit exposure of the affected software until one is available.

## Is CVE-2013-4120 being exploited?

There is no known exploitation of CVE-2013-4120 in the wild and no public exploit code.

## Other vulnerabilities in Katello

- [CVE-2013-0283](https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2013-0283/): Cross-site scripting in Katello (medium 5.4)
- [CVE-2018-14623](https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2018-14623/): katello SQL Injection vulnerability (medium 4.3)
- [CVE-2017-2662](https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2017-2662/): katello Improper Privilege Management vulnerability (medium 4.3)
- [CVE-2019-14825](https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2019-14825/): Katello cleartext password storage issue (medium 4.1)

## Fix prompt for AI coding agents

```text
Check this codebase for CVE-2013-4120 and fix it if it is affected.

What it is: CVE-2013-4120 is a high-severity denial of service vulnerability in Katello, published on 10 Dec 2019. 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-2013-4120 in the wild and no public exploit code.

Affected product: Katello. 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-2013-4120/ (Markdown: https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2013-4120/index.md)
```

## Sources

- CVE record: https://www.cve.org/CVERecord?id=CVE-2013-4120
- NVD: https://nvd.nist.gov/vuln/detail/CVE-2013-4120
- OSV: https://osv.dev/vulnerability/CVE-2013-4120

---
From sbomify Insights: https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2013-4120/
Summaries are generated and may contain mistakes; the official description above is the record.