CVE-2013-4965
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 3.1.0 does not properly restrict the number of authentication attempts by a console account, which makes it easier for remote attackers to bypass intended access restrictions via a brute-force attack.
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 before 3.1.0 fail to enforce rate limiting or account lockout on the web console authentication interface. This allows remote attackers to repeatedly attempt credential guesses without any delay or account lockout mechanism, facilitating brute-force attacks against console user accounts.
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<= 3.0.1= 3.0.0CVSS 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 installed version is 3.0.0, 3.0.1, or any version lower than 3.0.1
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Confirm web console is enabledCheck if the Puppet web console service is running and accessible. Look for the console service on port 443, 8140, or 3000, or check '/etc/puppetlabs/puppetserver/conf.d' or the console configuration for enabled statusAffected if the Puppet web console interface is actively running and reachable over the network
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Verify no external rate limiting is in placeInspect any reverse proxy, load balancer, or firewall configuration sitting in front of the Puppet web console for rate limiting rules, as the vulnerability exists in the native productAffected if no upstream rate limiting, CAPTCHA, or account lockout mechanism exists between the user and the console authentication endpoint
If Puppet Enterprise version 3.0.1 or earlier is installed AND the web console service is enabled and reachable, the environment is affected by CVE-2013-4965.
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 Puppet Enterprise to version 3.1.0 or later, which implements proper authentication attempt restrictions and account lockout policies.
- 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-2013-4965 — 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-2013-4965 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
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