# CVE-2013-4958: Missing authorization in n/a

> Attackers can gain privileges by leveraging an unattended workstation due to missing session timeouts in Puppet Enterprise.

- **Severity:** Medium 6.9 (`AV:L/AC:M/Au:N/C:C/I:C/A:C`)
- **Exploited in the wild:** Not known
- **Login needed:** Any signed-in user
- **Attackable:** Local or same network only
- **Victim action needed:** A user has to click or open something
- **Fix available:** No
- **Published:** 20 Aug 2013
- **Updated:** 16 Sep 2024
- **Also known as:** GHSA-7q8p-gpwv-hj67

## What is CVE-2013-4958?

CVE-2013-4958 is a medium-severity missing authorization vulnerability in Puppet Puppet Enterprise, published on 20 Aug 2013. It can only be exploited from the same machine or local network, and only if a user opens a file or follows a link.

### Official description

Puppet Enterprise before 3.0.1 does not use a session timeout, which makes it easier for attackers to gain privileges by leveraging an unattended workstation.

Weakness: CWE-287 (Improper Authentication)

## Which versions are affected by CVE-2013-4958?

It affects 1 product.


Products: Puppet Puppet Enterprise.

## How do I fix CVE-2013-4958?

No fix has been published for CVE-2013-4958 yet. Limit exposure of the affected software until one is available.

## Is CVE-2013-4958 being exploited?

There is no known exploitation of CVE-2013-4958 in the wild and no public exploit code.

## Other vulnerabilities in Puppet Puppet Enterprise

- [CVE-2023-2530](https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2023-2530/): Privilege escalation in Puppet Enterprise (critical 9.8)
- [CVE-2019-10694](https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2019-10694/): Hardcoded credentials in Puppet Enterprise (critical 9.8)
- [CVE-2018-11749](https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2018-11749/): Information disclosure in Puppet Enterprise (critical 9.8)
- [CVE-2021-27020](https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2021-27020/): Other in Puppet Enterprise (high 8.8)
- [CVE-2015-5686](https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2015-5686/): Cross-site request forgery in n/a (high 8.8)

## Fix prompt for AI coding agents

```text
Check this codebase for CVE-2013-4958 and fix it if it is affected.

What it is: CVE-2013-4958 is a medium-severity missing authorization vulnerability in Puppet Puppet Enterprise, published on 20 Aug 2013. It can only be exploited from the same machine or local network, and only if a user opens a file or follows a link.
Exploitation: There is no known exploitation of CVE-2013-4958 in the wild and no public exploit code.

Affected product: Puppet Puppet Enterprise. 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-2013-4958/ (Markdown: https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2013-4958/index.md)
```

## Sources

- CVE record: https://www.cve.org/CVERecord?id=CVE-2013-4958
- NVD: https://nvd.nist.gov/vuln/detail/CVE-2013-4958
- OSV: https://osv.dev/vulnerability/CVE-2013-4958

---
From sbomify Insights: https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2013-4958/
Summaries are generated and may contain mistakes; the official description above is the record.