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Torque Resource ManagerApplication · Adaptivecomputing

CVE-2013-4495

HIGH · 10.0 CVSS v2.0 Published 2013-11-20
Fix available
A fix is available. Upgrade to after 4.2.5 or later.
See remediation →
100/100
Remediation priority · Urgent
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
The send_the_mail function in server/svr_mail.c in Terascale Open-Source Resource and Queue Manager (aka TORQUE Resource Manager) before 4.2.6 allows remote attackers to execute arbitrary commands via shell metacharacters in the email (-M switch) to qsub.

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

Command injection vulnerability in TORQUE Resource Manager's send_the_mail function in server/svr_mail.c. The -M switch (email address) parameter passed to qsub is not properly sanitized before use in shell execution, allowing remote attackers to inject arbitrary shell commands via shell metacharacters.

MitigationUpgrade to TORQUE version 4.2.6 or later which contains the fix. As a temporary workaround, implement strict input validation on the -M parameter to reject shell metacharacters before user input reaches the vulnerable function.

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
Torque Resource ManagerApplication
Affected:<= 4.2.5= 2.0.0= 2.1.2= 2.1.3= 2.1.6= 2.1.7= 2.1.8= 2.1.9= 2.1.10= 2.1.11= 2.2.0= 2.2.1

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
Complete
Integrity
Complete
Availability
Complete

AV:N/AC:L/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 checks

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

  1. Identify TORQUE installation and version
    Run `qsub --version` or check installed packages via package manager (e.g., `rpm -q torque` or `dpkg -l | grep torque`)
    Affected if Installed version matches 2.0.0, 2.1.2, 2.1.3, 2.1.6, 2.1.7, 2.1.8, 2.1.9, 2.1.10, 2.1.11, 2.2.0, 2.2.1, or any version 4.2.5 or earlier
  2. Confirm qsub binary is accessible
    Execute `which qsub` to verify the qsub command is available in the PATH
    Affected if qsub is installed and accessible to the user being tested
  3. Verify mail functionality is enabled
    Check if the TORQUE server configuration permits email notifications; look for $mail_domain or related settings in the server configuration
    Affected if Mail functionality is enabled in TORQUE configuration (pbs_server config)
  4. Test for command injection via -M parameter
    Submit a test job with a -M argument containing shell metacharacters such as `$(whoami)` or `` `id` `` and check if the command executes (e.g., qsub -M '$(whoami)' -I /bin/bash)
    Affected if Shell metacharacters in the -M parameter are executed rather than treated as literal email address characters

A user is affected if they run a TORQUE version in the affected list and have the ability to submit jobs with the -M email parameter, which then executes shell metacharacters rather than rejecting them.

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.

dbcve · scoped
Upgrade available Upgrade to a release after 4.2.5
Interim mitigation

Upgrade to TORQUE version 4.2.6 or later which contains the fix. As a temporary workaround, implement strict input validation on the -M parameter to reject shell metacharacters before user input reaches the vulnerable function.

Recommended fix Moderate confidence

TORQUE Resource Manager 4.2.6 or later

  1. Backup the current TORQUE configuration and all job scripts/data
  2. Stop all TORQUE services (pbs_server, pbs_mom, pbs_sched)
  3. Download TORQUE 4.2.6 or later from the official source (github.com/adaptivecomputing/torque)
  4. Install the upgraded packages using the appropriate method for your distribution (e.g., make install, RPM, or package manager)
  5. Verify the send_the_mail function in server/svr_mail.c has been updated to sanitize shell metacharacters
  6. Restart TORQUE services in the correct order (pbs_mom, then pbs_server, then pbs_sched)
  7. Test that the -M option in qsub properly handles special characters without command injection

Generated from the published advisory — verify against the referenced sources before acting.

Fix this in Torque Resource Manager 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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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-2013-4495 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
  • No spam, self-promotion, credentials, or personal data