dbcve.org
2010Application · Siteminder Agent For Sharepoint

CVE-2013-2279

HIGH · 7.5 CVSS v2.0 Published 2013-03-21
Mitigation only
No fix yet — a mitigation exists. There is no fixed release. A documented workaround reduces exposure in the meantime.
See remediation →
84/100
Remediation priority · High
Remotely reachable No privileges Zero-click

Official description Straight from the sourceThe vendor's or NVD's own wording, published unedited. Authoritative, but often terse — it says what broke, rarely what to do.

NVD · unedited
CA SiteMinder Federation (FSS) 12.5, 12.0, and r6; Federation (Standalone) 12.1 and 12.0; Agent for SharePoint 2010; and SiteMinder for Secure Proxy Server 6.0, 12.0, and 12.5 does not properly verify XML signatures for SAML statements, which allows remote attackers to spoof other users and gain privileges.

Technical summary Written by usOur analysis, written from the advisory, the CVSS vector and the affected-version data. It adds context the advisory leaves out, and never invents facts that are not in the source.

dbcve analysis · high confidence

CA SiteMinder fails to properly verify XML signatures on SAML assertions, allowing remote attackers to forge SAML statements and bypass authentication. This signature validation bypass enables attackers to spoof legitimate users and gain unauthorized access to protected resources.

MitigationApply available patches from CA Technologies for affected versions, or upgrade to patched releases. Implement additional input validation and consider enabling strict SAML validation where possible.

Verify against the referenced sources before acting — the references below are authoritative for this CVE, this summary is not.

Affected products & versions What the vendor confirmedThe version ranges the vendor confirmed as vulnerable. If your version sits inside a range here, treat yourself as exposed until you have upgraded.

NVD · CPE data
2010Application
Affected:all versions
12.0Application
Affected:all versions
12.1Application
Affected:all versions
12.5Application
Affected:all versions
R6.0Application
Affected:all versions
12.0Application
Affected:all versions
12.5Application
Affected:all versions
6.0Application
Affected:all versions

CVSS breakdown How the score is builtThe industry scoring standard. It rates how the flaw is reached, what it takes to exploit, and what an attacker gains — the score is derived from those, not the other way round.

From the vector
Attack vector
Network
Complexity
Low
Authentication
None
Confidentiality
Partial
Integrity
Partial
Availability
Partial

AV:N/AC:L/Au:N/C:P/I:P/A:P

Am I affected? How to checkSteps we derive from the advisory and the affected-version data, so you can decide whether this CVE reaches your setup. They are a guide, not a scan — your own configuration is the authority.

dbcve checks

Work through these to decide whether this CVE applies to you.

  1. Identify installed SiteMinder product and version
    Check the installed CA SiteMinder components using system inventory tools, rpm queries, or looking in the CA installation directory for version information. Common locations include /opt/CA or C:\Program Files\CA. Look for Siteminder Federation, Siteminder Agent For Sharepoint 2010, or Siteminder For Secure Proxy Server components.
    Affected if The installed product is any version of Siteminder Federation 12.0, 12.1, 12.5, or R6.0; Siteminder Agent For Sharepoint 2010; or Siteminder For Secure Proxy Server 12.0, 12.5, or 6.0.
  2. Verify if SAML federation is configured
    Check SiteMinder configuration for active SAML federation partnerships or identity provider (IdP) / service provider (SP) configurations. Look in the SiteMinder administrative console or configuration files for SAML federation settings.
    Affected if SAML federation partnerships are defined and active in the SiteMinder environment.
  3. Inspect XML signature validation configuration
    Examine SiteMinder SAML validation settings, typically found in the SmSamlAssertionValidator configuration or equivalent federation validation settings. Look for configuration parameters controlling XML signature verification on incoming SAML assertions.
    Affected if XML signature validation is disabled, set to optional, or not properly enforced for SAML assertions.
  4. Review federation partnership settings
    Check the federation partnership configuration files or administrative interface for the trust settings between identity providers and service providers. Verify whether signature validation requirements are enabled for SAML assertions.
    Affected if The federation partnerships do not enforce required signature validation or allow unsigned/weakly signed SAML assertions.

If SiteMinder Federation, Agent For Sharepoint 2010, or Secure Proxy Server is deployed with SAML federation enabled and XML signature validation is not strictly enforced, the environment is vulnerable to CVE-2013-2279.

Generated from the published advisory. Verify against your own configuration.

Check your environment

Paste your version and any relevant configuration and it will be compared against the affected criteria above. Do not include secrets or credentials.

AI-assisted, checked against the advisory. Informational, not a guarantee.

Remediation Closing itWhat it takes to close this. Where a vendor fix exists we point at it; where none exists we say so plainly, and can build one. Effort estimates are scoped from the advisory, not from your codebase.

From vendor data
Mitigation available No clean upgrade yet — mitigate in the meantime
Mitigation

Apply available patches from CA Technologies for affected versions, or upgrade to patched releases. Implement additional input validation and consider enabling strict SAML validation where possible.

Fix this in 2010 Scoped from the published advisory
  • Consultation6.0 h
  • Implementation12.0 h
  • Testing10.0 h
  • Review / QA4.0 h
32.0 hours of engineering $5,580
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References Go to the primary sourcePrimary sources — vendor advisories, patches and trackers. Where our summary and a reference disagree, the reference wins.

Primary sources

Practitioner notes

Contributed

Peer-ranked notes from engineers who’ve handled CVE-2013-2279 in production — separate from our analysis above.

No notes yet

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What this is

A place for practitioners to share what actually worked: a mitigation you’ve tested, a configuration change, a version- or environment-specific caveat, or a link to a verified patch. The most useful notes rise to the top as peers upvote them, so the signal stays high.

What belongs here
  • Verified mitigations, workarounds, and config changes
  • Version or environment caveats, and links to real fixes
  • No weaponised exploit code, or anything meant to cause harm
  • No spam, self-promotion, credentials, or personal data