CVE-2013-4964
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 · uneditedPuppet Enterprise before 3.0.1 does not set the secure flag for the session cookie in an https session, which makes it easier for remote attackers to capture this cookie by intercepting its transmission within an http session.
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 confidencePuppet Enterprise versions prior to 3.0.1 fail to set the Secure flag on session cookies even when transmitted over HTTPS. This allows the session cookie to potentially be transmitted over unencrypted HTTP connections, enabling network-based attackers to intercept and capture the cookie for session hijacking.
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<= 3.0.0= 2.5.1= 2.5.2= 2.8.0= 2.8.1= 2.8.2= 2.8.3CVSS 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
- Partial
- Availability
- None
AV:N/AC:L/Au:N/C:N/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 Puppet Enterprise versionRun 'puppet --version' or check the installed package version using your system package manager (e.g., 'rpm -q puppet-enterprise' or 'dpkg -l puppet-enterprise')Affected if The version matches any of these: 3.0.0 or lower, 2.5.1, 2.5.2, 2.8.0, 2.8.1, 2.8.2, or 2.8.3
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Verify HTTPS is configuredCheck the Puppet Enterprise console or console-services configuration for SSL/TLS settings. Look for the 'ssl' or 'secure' parameters in the application server configuration filesAffected if HTTPS/SSL is not properly configured or is disabled for the console web interface
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Inspect session cookies for Secure flagLog into the Puppet Enterprise console over HTTPS using a browser. Open developer tools (F12), go to the Application or Storage tab, find the session cookies, and inspect the cookie attributes. Alternatively, capture network traffic with a packet analyzer to observe cookie headersAffected if The session cookie (typically named something like 'puppet_enterprise_console_session' or 'PSESSION') does not include the 'Secure' attribute in its Set-Cookie header
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Check application server session configurationExamine the application server configuration (such as Tomcat or JRuby) used by Puppet Enterprise for session cookie settings. Look for 'secure' flag configuration in session descriptor files or web.xmlAffected if The session cookie configuration explicitly disables or omits the Secure flag, or defaults to an insecure setting
You are affected if you run Puppet Enterprise version 3.0.0 or earlier (including 2.5.1, 2.5.2, 2.8.x series) and your session cookies transmitted over HTTPS lack the Secure flag attribute.
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 dataEnable the Secure flag on session cookies in Puppet Enterprise to ensure they are only transmitted over encrypted HTTPS connections. This is typically configured in the application server or web framework that handles session management.
- Consultation2.0 h
- Implementation4.0 h
- Testing3.0 h
- Review / QA2.0 h
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Scan for this in your stack
Free · runs locallyCheck whether your project pulls in CVE-2013-4964 — 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-2013-4964 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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