Cloudforms Management EngineApplication · Redhat
CVE-2013-4172
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 · uneditedThe Red Hat CloudForms Management Engine 5.1 allow remote administrators to execute arbitrary Ruby code via unspecified vectors.
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 confidenceRed Hat CloudForms Management Engine 5.1 contains a vulnerability allowing remote administrators to execute arbitrary Ruby code through unspecified vectors. This represents a critical code injection flaw that could enable complete system compromise by authenticated remote attackers.
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
Cloudforms Management EngineApplication
= 5.1CVSS 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
- M
- Authentication
- Single
- Confidentiality
- Complete
- Integrity
- Complete
- Availability
- Complete
AV:N/AC:M/Au:S/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 if CloudForms Management Engine is installedCheck for the presence of CloudForms services or web application. Common methods include: looking for the ManageIQ/CloudForms process (evm_server), checking for /var/www/miq/vmdb directory, or querying system packages with 'rpm -qa | grep -i cloudforms' or 'rpm -qa | grep -i manageiq'Affected if CloudForms Management Engine software is present on the system
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Determine the installed versionRun the version check command for your installation method. For RPM-based systems: 'rpm -qa | grep -i cloudforms' or check the evm version via the web interface at /about or via API. Compare the version number to the affected version 5.1Affected if The installed version is exactly 5.1
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Verify remote administration interface is accessibleCheck if the CloudForms web interface (typically on ports 443, 8443, or 3000) is exposed and accessible from network locations. Review firewall rules and Apache/nginx configuration for the CloudForms virtual applianceAffected if The web management console is accessible remotely (not limited to localhost or trusted internal networks)
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Check for administrative user accessReview the CloudForms authentication configuration to confirm remote administrative accounts exist and can authenticate. Check /var/www/miq/vmdb/config/authentication.yml or the database for configured admin usersAffected if Remote administrative users are configured and can authenticate to the CloudForms interface
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Inspect logs for suspicious Ruby execution patternsReview CloudForms production logs (typically in /var/www/miq/vmdb/log/production.log) for unusual method calls, eval statements, or unexpected code execution attempts. Search for patterns like 'eval', 'system', 'exec', 'spawn' in unexpected contextsAffected if Logs show evidence of arbitrary Ruby code execution that was not initiated by known administrators
A system is affected if CloudForms Management Engine version 5.1 is installed with its remote administrative interface accessible to untrusted networks, allowing authenticated attackers to inject and execute arbitrary Ruby code.
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 dataUpgrade to a patched version of CloudForms Management Engine. If upgrading is not immediately feasible, restrict administrative access to trusted networks only and monitor for suspicious Ruby code execution attempts.
Fix this in Cloudforms Management Engine
Scoped from the published advisory
- Consultation4.0 h
- Implementation8.0 h
- Testing6.0 h
- Review / QA2.0 h
An estimate, not a bill — we confirm scope with you before any work starts. Need it this week? Rush from $5,600.
Scan for this in your stack
Free · runs locallyCheck whether your project pulls in CVE-2013-4172 — 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-2013-4172 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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