CVE-2013-2297
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 · uneditedEucalyptus EuStore sets a blank root password in the default configuration of EMI 3868652036, EMI 0400376721, EMI 2425352071, and EMI 1347115203, which allows local users to gain privileges via unspecified vectors, a related issue to CVE-2013-2069.
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 · moderate confidenceEucalyptus EuStore cloud platform contains a blank root password in the default configuration of four specific EMI (Eucalyptus Machine Image) identifiers. This configuration weakness allows any local user with shell access to the affected system to escalate privileges to root by simply attempting to login with root and no password, exploiting the unset authentication barrier.
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= emi_0400376721= emi_1347115203= emi_2425352071= emi_3868652036CVSS 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
- Local
- Complexity
- M
- Authentication
- None
- Confidentiality
- Complete
- Integrity
- Complete
- Availability
- Complete
AV:L/AC:M/Au:N/C:C/I:C/A:C
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 checksWork through these to decide whether this CVE applies to you.
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Identify the EMI identifier used to launch the instanceCheck cloud-init metadata or instance metadata. On Eucalyptus systems, the EMI ID is often stored in /var/lib/cloud/data/instance-id, /etc/eucalyptus/eucalyptus.conf, or can be retrieved via euca-describe-instances command if you have cloud administrative access.Affected if The displayed EMI identifier matches one of these: emi_0400376721, emi_1347115203, emi_2425352071, emi_3868652036
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Verify root account password statusAttempt to switch to root using 'su -' or check /etc/shadow for the root entry. If the password field is empty (starts with : and has no hash), the root account has no password set.Affected if The root password field in /etc/shadow is empty or the root user can be accessed without authentication
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Check for local shell access without credentialsAttempt to log in as root with an empty password via the console or SSH, or verify that sudo or su commands execute without prompting for a password.Affected if Root access is granted without requiring any password authentication
A system is affected if it was launched from one of the four vulnerable EMI identifiers AND the root account has no password set, allowing unauthenticated root access.
Generated from the published advisory. Verify against your own configuration.
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 dataSet a strong root password in the affected EMI configurations before deployment, or regenerate the EMI images (EMI 3868652036, EMI 0400376721, EMI 2425352071, and EMI 1347115203) with proper credential hardening. Ensure default credentials are never shipped in production cloud images.
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- Implementation8.0 h
- Testing4.0 h
- Review / QA2.0 h
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Scan for this in your stack
Free · runs locallyCheck whether your project pulls in CVE-2013-2297 — or any other known-vulnerable package — straight from your lock files. Free and open source; it runs locally and uploads nothing.
References Go to the primary sourcePrimary sources — vendor advisories, patches and trackers. Where our summary and a reference disagree, the reference wins.
Primary sourcesPractitioner notes
ContributedPeer-ranked notes from engineers who’ve handled CVE-2013-2297 in production — separate from our analysis above.
The advisory tells you what broke. It rarely tells you what actually worked. If you’ve dealt with this one, that detail is what the next engineer is searching for.
- The version that genuinely resolved it — not the one the vendor claimed
- A config change or rule that shut the vector down
- A gotcha in the upgrade path that cost you an afternoon
No notes yet
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- Verified mitigations, workarounds, and config changes
- Version or environment caveats, and links to real fixes
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