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LoadrunnerApplication · Hp

CVE-2013-4838

HIGH · 10.0 CVSS v2.0 Published 2013-11-04
Fix available
A fix is available. Upgrade to after 11.51 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
Unspecified vulnerability in Virtual User Generator in HP LoadRunner before 11.52 allows remote attackers to execute arbitrary code via unknown vectors, aka ZDI-CAN-1850.

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 confidence

HP LoadRunner's Virtual User Generator (Vugen) component contains an unspecified vulnerability allowing remote attackers to execute arbitrary code via unknown vectors. This is a pre-authentication, network-exploitable remote code execution vulnerability with complete impact on confidentiality, integrity, and availability.

MitigationUpgrade HP LoadRunner to version 11.52 or later. If immediate patching is not possible, restrict network access to LoadRunner systems and disable Vugen services when not in use.

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
LoadrunnerApplication
Affected:<= 11.51= 9.0.0= 9.50.0= 9.51= 9.52= 11.0.0.0= 11.50

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 if HP LoadRunner is installed
    Check the Windows registry under HKLM\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Uninstall for an entry containing 'HP LoadRunner' or 'LoadRunner', or view installed programs in Control Panel
    Affected if HP LoadRunner is found on the system
  2. Locate the installed LoadRunner version
    Check the registry key HKLM\SOFTWARE\Mercury Interactive\LoadRunner\CurrentVersion for the 'Version' value, or right-click the LoadRunner shortcut and select 'About LoadRunner'
    Affected if The discovered version matches one of these: 9.0.0, 9.50.0, 9.51, 9.52, 11.0.0.0, 11.50, or any version 11.51 or lower
  3. Verify Virtual User Generator (Vugen) component presence
    Check for the Vugen installation directory, typically under the LoadRunner installation folder (such as C:\Program Files\HP\LoadRunner\bin\vugen.exe), or look for the Vugen shortcut in the LoadRunner program group
    Affected if The Vugen executable (vugen.exe) exists on the system and is accessible
  4. Confirm Vugen service or listener is accessible
    Check if the Vugen service is registered and running, or verify that the Vugen RPC or listener port (commonly port 54345) is open on localhost by running 'netstat -an | findstr 54345'
    Affected if The Vugen service process is running or its network listener port is open and accepting connections

The system is affected if HP LoadRunner with the Vugen component is installed and the installed version matches any of the affected versions: 9.0.0, 9.50.0, 9.51, 9.52, 11.0.0.0, 11.50, or any version 11.51 or earlier.

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 11.51
Interim mitigation

Upgrade HP LoadRunner to version 11.52 or later. If immediate patching is not possible, restrict network access to LoadRunner systems and disable Vugen services when not in use.

Recommended fix High confidence

LoadRunner 11.52 or later

  1. 1. Backup all LoadRunner project files, scripts, and configurations before performing any upgrade
  2. 2. Review HP LoadRunner 11.52 release notes for compatibility requirements and known issues
  3. 3. Download HP LoadRunner 11.52 or later from the official HP software repository
  4. 4. Uninstall the current version of LoadRunner following HP's documented uninstallation procedure
  5. 5. Install LoadRunner 11.52 or the latest stable version
  6. 6. Verify that Virtual User Generator component is properly installed and functional
  7. 7. Test existing virtual user scripts to ensure compatibility with the upgraded version
  8. 8. Validate that the ZDI-CAN-1850 vulnerability is no longer present by reviewing installed version
Caveat Review compatibility of custom VuGen scripts and any third-party plugins with version 11.52 before production deployment

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

Fix this in Loadrunner Scoped from the published advisory
  • Consultation2.0 h
  • Implementation3.0 h
  • Testing3.0 h
  • Review / QA1.0 h
9.0 hours of engineering $1,570
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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-2013-4838 in production — separate from our analysis above.

No notes yet

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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