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OtrsApplication

CVE-2013-4088

MEDIUM · 6.5 CVSS v3.1 Published 2020-02-21
Fix available
A fix is available. Upgrade to 3.0.21 / 3.1.17 or later.
See remediation →
71/100
Remediation priority · Elevated
Remotely reachable 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
Kernel/Modules/AgentTicketWatcher.pm in Open Ticket Request System (OTRS) 3.0.x before 3.0.21, 3.1.x before 3.1.17, and 3.2.x before 3.2.8 does not properly restrict tickets, which allows remote attackers with a valid agent login to read restricted tickets via a crafted URL involving the ticket split mechanism.

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

This is an Insecure Direct Object Reference (IDOR) vulnerability in OTRS (Open Ticket Request System). The AgentTicketWatcher.pm module fails to properly enforce ticket access restrictions, allowing authenticated agents with valid login credentials to access restricted tickets through a crafted URL leveraging the ticket split mechanism.

MitigationUpgrade OTRS to version 3.0.21, 3.1.17, 3.2.8 or later to obtain the patched version of AgentTicketWatcher.pm that properly validates ticket access permissions.

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
OtrsApplication
Affected:>= 3.0.0, < 3.0.21>= 3.1.0, < 3.1.17>= 3.2.0, < 3.2.8

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
Privileges
Low
User interaction
None
Scope
Unchanged
Confidentiality
High
Integrity
None
Availability
None

CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:L/PR:L/UI:N/S:U/C:H/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 checks

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

  1. Check installed OTRS version
    Locate the OTRS version file (typically VERSION or OTRS.pm in the OTRS root directory) and read the version number. Alternatively, access the OTRS admin panel and navigate to System Administration > System Information to view the installed version.
    Affected if The installed version falls within any of these ranges: >= 3.0.0 and < 3.0.21, >= 3.1.0 and < 3.1.17, or >= 3.2.0 and < 3.2.8
  2. Verify AgentTicketWatcher.pm module presence
    Locate the AgentTicketWatcher.pm file in the OTRS installation (typically found in Kernel/Modules/ directory). Check the file modification date or version header if present in the module.
    Affected if The module exists in the installation and the OTRS version is within the affected ranges listed above
  3. Confirm AgentTicketWatcher feature is accessible
    Log into OTRS as an agent and verify if the ticket watcher feature is available. The vulnerability leverages the ticket split mechanism combined with the watcher functionality. Check if agents can access tickets outside their assigned queues.
    Affected if The ticket watcher feature is enabled and agents can access tickets in queues they are not assigned to via direct URL manipulation
  4. Review ticket access control configuration
    Examine the OTRS permission system through the admin interface. Verify whether agents can modify ticket access restrictions and whether the system properly enforces queue-based access controls on watched tickets.
    Affected if Agents with watcher permissions on one ticket can access another ticket through a crafted URL using the split mechanism, bypassing queue-level access controls

A user is affected if they run OTRS versions 3.0.0 through 3.0.20, 3.1.0 through 3.1.16, or 3.2.0 through 3.2.7, and the AgentTicketWatcher module with ticket split functionality is accessible to authenticated agents.

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
Upgrade available Upgrade to 3.0.21 / 3.1.17 / 3.2.8 or later
Fixed in 3.0.213.1.173.2.8
Interim mitigation

Upgrade OTRS to version 3.0.21, 3.1.17, 3.2.8 or later to obtain the patched version of AgentTicketWatcher.pm that properly validates ticket access permissions.

Fix this in Otrs Scoped from the published advisory
  • Consultation3.0 h
  • Implementation6.0 h
  • Testing3.0 h
  • Review / QA2.0 h
14.0 hours of engineering $2,490
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Scan for this in your stack

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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-2013-4088 in production — separate from our analysis above.

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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
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