# CVE-2013-4253: Hardcoded credentials in Red Hat Openshift

> An attacker can gain root access to Red Hat OpenShift 1 nodes if the unsupported OpenShift Extras deployment script is used, due to a hardcoded public key.

- **Severity:** High 7.5 (`CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:L/PR:N/UI:N/S:U/C:N/I:H/A:N`)
- **Exploited in the wild:** Not known
- **Login needed:** Not needed
- **Attackable:** Over the internet
- **Victim action needed:** Not needed
- **Fix available:** No
- **Published:** 19 Oct 2022
- **Updated:** 9 May 2025
- **Also known as:** GHSA-cm3c-7ffr-r2cr

## What is CVE-2013-4253?

CVE-2013-4253 is a high-severity vulnerability in Redhat Openshift, published on 19 Oct 2022. An attacker can exploit it over the internet without logging in, with no action from the victim.

### Official description

The deployment script in the unsupported "OpenShift Extras" set of add-on scripts, in Red Hat Openshift 1, installs a default public key in the root user's authorized_keys file.

Weakness: CWE-668 (Exposure of Resource to Wrong Sphere), CWE-377 (DEPRECATED: Insecure Temporary File)

## Which versions are affected by CVE-2013-4253?

It affects 1 product.


Products: Redhat Openshift.

## How do I fix CVE-2013-4253?

No fix has been published for CVE-2013-4253 yet. Limit exposure of the affected software until one is available.

## Is CVE-2013-4253 being exploited?

There is no known exploitation of CVE-2013-4253 in the wild and no public exploit code.

## Other vulnerabilities in Redhat Openshift

- [CVE-2014-3496](https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2014-3496/): Command injection in n/a (critical 10.0)
- [CVE-2014-0234](https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2014-0234/): Hardcoded credentials in Red Hat OpenShift Enterprise (critical 9.8)
- [CVE-2013-2060](https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2013-2060/): Command injection in OpenShift Origin (critical 9.8)
- [CVE-2013-4561](https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2013-4561/): Path traversal in openshift-origin-msg-node-mcollective (critical 9.1)
- [CVE-2014-0163](https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2014-0163/): Command injection in Openshift (high 8.8)

## Fix prompt for AI coding agents

```text
Check this codebase for CVE-2013-4253 and fix it if it is affected.

What it is: CVE-2013-4253 is a high-severity vulnerability in Redhat Openshift, published on 19 Oct 2022. 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-2013-4253 in the wild and no public exploit code.

Affected product: Redhat Openshift. 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-2013-4253/ (Markdown: https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2013-4253/index.md)
```

## Sources

- CVE record: https://www.cve.org/CVERecord?id=CVE-2013-4253
- NVD: https://nvd.nist.gov/vuln/detail/CVE-2013-4253
- OSV: https://osv.dev/vulnerability/CVE-2013-4253

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From sbomify Insights: https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2013-4253/
Summaries are generated and may contain mistakes; the official description above is the record.