CVE-2013-4840
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 · uneditedUnspecified vulnerability in HP and H3C VPN Firewall Module products SECPATH1000FE before 5.20.R3177 and SECBLADEFW before 5.20.R3177 allows remote attackers to cause a denial of service via unknown 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 confidenceThis is a denial of service vulnerability in HP and H3C VPN Firewall Module products (SECPATH1000FE and SECBLADEFW) affecting versions prior to 5.20.R3177. The vulnerability is remotely exploitable via unspecified vectors, allowing attackers to cause service disruption.
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= 5.20= 5.20= 0235a26g= 0231a94j= 0231a832= 0231a0av= 0231a88a= 0231a88lCVSS 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
- None
- Integrity
- None
- Availability
- Complete
AV:N/AC:L/Au:N/C:N/I:N/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 the VPN Firewall device modelLog into the device CLI or check the physical device label to identify whether the device is a SECPATH1000FE, SECBLADEFW, F1000E, S5820, S7500E, S9500E, SR66, or SR88 model. Use 'display device information' or 'display version' command depending on the platform.Affected if The device model matches one of the following: SECPATH1000FE, SECBLADEFW, F1000E VPN Firewall, S5820 Secblade, S7500E Secblade, S9500E Secblade, SR66 Gigabit, or SR88 Firewall Processing Module.
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Retrieve the firmware versionExecute the 'display version' or 'display firmware version' command in the device CLI to obtain the current running firmware version. Record the full version string including any build numbers.Affected if The firmware version cannot be determined or the device is running firmware prior to 5.20.R3177.
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Compare firmware against the affected version rangesFor SECPATH1000FE and SECBLADEFW devices: verify if the version is prior to 5.20.R3177. For other models (F1000E, S5820, S7500E, S9500E, SR66, SR88): check if the firmware build matches or predates the affected builds listed (0235a26g, 0231a94j, 0231a832, 0231a0av, 0231a88a, 0231a88l).Affected if The installed firmware version is lower than 5.20.R3177 for SECPATH1000FE/SECBLADEFW, or matches any of the specific affected build numbers for other models.
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Confirm VPN Firewall module is enabledVerify that the VPN Firewall functionality is actively running on the device using 'display firewall status' or 'display ipsec sa' to confirm the module is instantiated and processing traffic.Affected if The VPN Firewall module is enabled and processing traffic, making the device vulnerable to the denial of service condition.
You are affected if your device is an HP or H3C VPN Firewall model (SECPATH1000FE, SECBLADEFW, F1000E, S5820, S7500E, S9500E, SR66, or SR88) and is running firmware versions prior to 5.20.R3177.
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 affected VPN Firewall Module devices to firmware version 5.20.R3177 or later to remediate this vulnerability.
- Consultation3.0 h
- Implementation6.0 h
- Testing4.0 h
- Review / QA2.0 h
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Scan for this in your stack
Free · runs locallyCheck whether your project pulls in CVE-2013-4840 — 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-2013-4840 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