CVE-2013-4497
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 XenAPI backend in OpenStack Compute (Nova) Folsom, Grizzly, and Havana before 2013.2 does not properly apply security groups (1) when resizing an image or (2) during live migration, which allows remote attackers to bypass intended restrictions.
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 confidenceThe XenAPI backend in OpenStack Compute (Nova) fails to properly apply security group rules during instance resize operations and live migration. This allows network traffic that should be blocked by security groups to potentially reach instances during these operations, bypassing intended network isolation.
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<= havana-3= havana-1= havana-2all versionsall versionsCVSS 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
- Partial
- Availability
- None
AV:N/AC:L/Au:N/C:P/I:P/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 Nova versionRun 'nova-manage version' or check the installed Nova package version (e.g., 'rpm -q openstack-nova' or 'dpkg -l nova-common')Affected if The version corresponds to Folsom, Grizzly, or Havana (<=2013.2)
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Verify XenAPI compute driver is in useCheck the Nova configuration file (typically /etc/nova/nova.conf) for 'compute_driver = xenapi.XenAPIDriver' or similar XenAPI driver setting under the [DEFAULT] sectionAffected if The compute_driver is set to a XenAPI-based driver (xenapi.*)
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Confirm security groups are enabledCheck Nova configuration for 'security_group_api = nova' or verify security groups are configured and in use via 'nova secgroup-list'Affected if Security groups are enabled and configured in the environment
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Review resize and migration operation logsExamine Nova service logs (typically /var/log/nova/nova-compute.log) for 'resize' or 'live-migration' operations performed on XenAPI-hosted instancesAffected if Resize or live migration operations have been performed on instances using the XenAPI backend since deployment
A user is affected if they run Nova with the XenAPI compute driver on Folsom, Grizzly, or Havana versions and have performed instance resize or live migration operations while using security groups.
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 Nova to version 2013.2 or later where the security group enforcement during resize and live migration is properly implemented. If immediate upgrade is not feasible, closely monitor network traffic during these operations and consider additional network-level controls.
- Consultation4.0 h
- Implementation8.0 h
- Testing6.0 h
- Review / QA4.0 h
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Scan for this in your stack
Free · runs locallyCheck whether your project pulls in CVE-2013-4497 — 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-2013-4497 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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