CVE-2013-3016
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 · uneditedIBM WebSphere Portal 6.1, 7.0, and 8.0 allows remote attackers to access the user directory via a crafted request for a servlet, related to the serveServletsByClassnameEnabled setting.
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 confidenceIBM WebSphere Portal 6.1, 7.0, and 8.0 contains a vulnerability where the serveServletsByClassnameEnabled setting allows remote attackers to access the user directory through crafted requests to specific servlets, leading to unauthorized information disclosure.
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= 6.1.0.0= 7.0.0.0= 8.0= 8.0.0.0CVSS 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
- None
- Availability
- None
AV:N/AC:L/Au:N/C:P/I:N/A:N
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 installed WebSphere Portal versionUse the WebSphere Portal Admin Console or check the version file (typically in the PortalServer root directory) using the versionInfo command or looking at the installation propertiesAffected if The installed version matches 6.1.0.0, 7.0.0.0, 8.0, or 8.0.0.0 exactly, or falls within the 6.1.x, 7.0.x, or 8.0.x release families without security patches applied
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Locate the serveServletsByClassnameEnabled settingAccess the WebSphere Application Server Administrative Console and navigate to Application Servers > server1 > Web Container > Servlet Engine Properties, or check the configuration XML files (plugin-cfg.xml or ibm-web-ext.xmi) in the WebSphere configuration directoryAffected if The serveServletsByClassnameEnabled parameter is set to true or enabled in the configuration
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Verify if the vulnerable servlet endpoints are accessibleTest access to known affected servlets by attempting HTTP requests to endpoints such as /servlet/userdir or /servlet/peoplefinder (the specific servlet paths depend on the Portal configuration)Affected if The server responds with directory listings or user information without authentication when these servlets are accessed via classname
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Review WebSphere Portal access logs for suspicious servlet requestsExamine the WebSphere Portal access logs (typically found in the logs directory) for requests to servlet classnames that could indicate enumeration attemptsAffected if Logs show requests to classname-based servlet paths (such as those ending in servlet/ or invoking servlets by fully qualified class name) that were successful without proper authentication
A system is affected if it runs an unpatched IBM WebSphere Portal 6.1, 7.0, or 8.0 installation AND has serveServletsByClassnameEnabled set to true, allowing unauthenticated access to user directory servlets.
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 dataDisable the serveServletsByClassnameEnabled setting in the WebSphere Portal configuration or apply IBM security patches for this vulnerability to prevent unauthorized directory access.
- Consultation3.0 h
- Implementation4.0 h
- Testing2.0 h
- Review / QA2.0 h
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Scan for this in your stack
Free · runs locallyCheck whether your project pulls in CVE-2013-3016 — 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-2013-3016 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
- No weaponised exploit code, or anything meant to cause harm
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