CVE-2013-4621
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 · uneditedMagnolia CMS before 4.5.9 has multiple access bypass vulnerabilities
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 confidenceMultiple access bypass vulnerabilities in Magnolia CMS affecting versions prior to 4.5.9. The vulnerabilities allow unauthenticated or unauthorized users to bypass access controls, likely enabling unauthorized access to sensitive administrative functions or content. Critical severity (9.8) indicates straightforward exploitation with no user interaction required.
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< 4.5.9CVSS 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
- None
- User interaction
- None
- Scope
- Unchanged
- Confidentiality
- High
- Integrity
- High
- Availability
- High
CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:L/PR:N/UI:N/S:U/C:H/I:H/A:H
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 Magnolia CMS versionCheck the Magnolia CMS version information typically displayed in the admin interface (About section) or check the magnolia.jar manifest file if you have file system access. Look for version strings in the deployed web application.Affected if The installed version is any version prior to 4.5.9 (for example, 4.5.8, 4.5.7, 4.5, etc.)
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Verify administrative interface exposureDetermine if the Magnolia admincentral or magnoliaAuthoring servlet paths are accessible from untrusted networks. Check network configuration or firewall rules that control access to /admincentral, /magnoliaAuthoring, and similar administrative endpoints.Affected if Administrative interfaces are accessible from the internet or untrusted networks without proper access restrictions
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Inspect access control configurationReview the Magnolia configuration files (typically in WEB-INF/config or the magnolia.properties file) for the realm configuration and filter chain settings that control authentication and authorization.Affected if Access control filters are disabled, misconfigured, or set to allow anonymous access to protected resources
You are affected if your Magnolia CMS installation is version 4.5.8 or earlier, and the admin interface is accessible without proper authentication controls in place.
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.
dbcve · scoped4.5.9
Upgrade Magnolia CMS to version 4.5.9 or later to obtain the security patches. If immediate upgrade is not possible, restrict network access to administrative interfaces and review access control configurations.
Magnolia CMS 4.5.9 or later
- Backup the current Magnolia CMS database and configuration files
- Download Magnolia CMS version 4.5.9 or later from the official Magnolia website or repository
- Stop the Magnolia CMS application server
- Replace the existing Magnolia CMS installation files with the new version
- Review and update any custom configurations or modules that may be incompatible with the new version
- Start the Magnolia CMS application server
- Verify that the authentication bypass vulnerability is resolved by testing login and access controls
- Ensure all admin accounts can authenticate properly and authorization works correctly
Generated from the published advisory — verify against the referenced sources before acting.
- Consultation2.0 h
- Implementation4.0 h
- Testing3.0 h
- Review / QA1.0 h
An estimate, not a bill — we confirm scope with you before any work starts. Need it this week? Rush from $2,800.
Scan for this in your stack
Free · runs locallyCheck whether your project pulls in CVE-2013-4621 — 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-2013-4621 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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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.
- 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