# CVE-2013-6438: Denial of service in n/a

> Remote attackers can crash the Apache HTTP Server daemon via a crafted DAV WRITE request due to improper whitespace handling in mod_dav.

- **Severity:** Medium 5.0 (`AV:N/AC:L/Au:N/C:N/I:N/A:P`)
- **Exploited in the wild:** Not known
- **Login needed:** Any signed-in user
- **Attackable:** Over the internet
- **Victim action needed:** Not needed
- **Fix available:** Yes
- **Published:** 18 Mar 2014
- **Updated:** 6 Aug 2024
- **Also known as:** DEBIAN-CVE-2013-6438, GHSA-2xpp-q4gq-7cc3

## What is CVE-2013-6438?

CVE-2013-6438 is a medium-severity denial of service vulnerability in Apache Http Server, published on 18 Mar 2014. Any signed-in user can exploit it over the network, with no action from the victim.

### Official description

The dav_xml_get_cdata function in main/util.c in the mod_dav module in the Apache HTTP Server before 2.4.8 does not properly remove whitespace characters from CDATA sections, which allows remote attackers to cause a denial of service (daemon crash) via a crafted DAV WRITE request.

## Which versions are affected by CVE-2013-6438?

It affects 3 products.


Products: Apache Http Server, Canonical Ubuntu Linux, Oracle Http Server.

## How do I fix CVE-2013-6438?

Upgrade to a fixed version.

## Is CVE-2013-6438 being exploited?

There is no known exploitation of CVE-2013-6438 in the wild and no public exploit code.

## Other vulnerabilities in Apache Http Server

- [CVE-2021-42013](https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2021-42013/): Apache HTTP Server Path Traversal (critical 9.8, exploited in the wild)
- [CVE-2024-38475](https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2024-38475/): Apache HTTP Server Improper Escaping of Output (critical 9.1, exploited in the wild)
- [CVE-2021-40438](https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2021-40438/): Apache HTTP Server-Side Request Forgery (SSRF) (critical 9.0, exploited in the wild)
- [CVE-2019-0211](https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2019-0211/): Apache HTTP Server Privilege Escalation (high 7.8, exploited in the wild)
- [CVE-2021-41773](https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2021-41773/): Apache HTTP Server Path Traversal (high 7.5, exploited in the wild)

## Fix prompt for AI coding agents

```text
Check this codebase for CVE-2013-6438 and fix it if it is affected.

What it is: CVE-2013-6438 is a medium-severity denial of service vulnerability in Apache Http Server, published on 18 Mar 2014. Any signed-in user can exploit it over the network, with no action from the victim.
Exploitation: There is no known exploitation of CVE-2013-6438 in the wild and no public exploit code.

Affected product: Apache Http Server. 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-2013-6438/ (Markdown: https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2013-6438/index.md)
```

## Sources

- CVE record: https://www.cve.org/CVERecord?id=CVE-2013-6438
- NVD: https://nvd.nist.gov/vuln/detail/CVE-2013-6438
- OSV: https://osv.dev/vulnerability/CVE-2013-6438

---
From sbomify Insights: https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2013-6438/
Summaries are generated and may contain mistakes; the official description above is the record.