# CVE-2013-4208: Information disclosure in n/a

> Local attackers can discover private RSA and DSA keys due to sensitive memory not being cleared or freed in PuTTY.

- **Severity:** Low 2.1 (`AV:L/AC:L/Au:N/C:P/I:N/A:N`)
- **Exploited in the wild:** Not known
- **Login needed:** Any signed-in user
- **Attackable:** Local or same network only
- **Victim action needed:** Not needed
- **Fix available:** Yes
- **Published:** 19 Aug 2013
- **Updated:** 6 Aug 2024
- **Also known as:** DEBIAN-CVE-2013-4208, GHSA-gpf3-9fhm-cfpr

## What is CVE-2013-4208?

CVE-2013-4208 is a low-severity vulnerability in n/a, published on 19 Aug 2013. It can only be exploited from the same machine or local network, with no action from the victim.

### Official description

The rsa_verify function in PuTTY before 0.63 (1) does not clear sensitive process memory after use and (2) does not free certain structures containing sensitive process memory, which might allow local users to discover private RSA and DSA keys.

Weakness: CWE-200 (Exposure of Sensitive Information to an Unauthorized Actor)

## Which versions are affected by CVE-2013-4208?

It affects 2 products.


Products: Putty Putty, Simon Tatham Putty.

## How do I fix CVE-2013-4208?

Upgrade to a fixed version.

## Is CVE-2013-4208 being exploited?

There is no known exploitation of CVE-2013-4208 in the wild and no public exploit code.

## Other vulnerabilities in n/a

- [CVE-2004-1008](https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2004-1008/): Integer overflow in n/a (critical 10.0)
- [CVE-2019-17067](https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2019-17067/): Other in n/a (critical 9.8)
- [CVE-2021-36367](https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2021-36367/): Auth bypass in n/a (high 8.1)
- [CVE-2016-6167](https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2016-6167/): Other in n/a (high 7.8)
- [CVE-2021-33500](https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2021-33500/): Denial of service in n/a (high 7.5)

## Fix prompt for AI coding agents

```text
Check this codebase for CVE-2013-4208 and fix it if it is affected.

What it is: CVE-2013-4208 is a low-severity vulnerability in n/a, published on 19 Aug 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-2013-4208 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-2013-4208/ (Markdown: https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2013-4208/index.md)
```

## Sources

- CVE record: https://www.cve.org/CVERecord?id=CVE-2013-4208
- NVD: https://nvd.nist.gov/vuln/detail/CVE-2013-4208
- OSV: https://osv.dev/vulnerability/CVE-2013-4208

---
From sbomify Insights: https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2013-4208/
Summaries are generated and may contain mistakes; the official description above is the record.