dbcve.org
Prime Data Center Network ManagerApplication · Cisco

CVE-2013-5490

HIGH · 7.8 CVSS v2.0 Published 2013-09-23
Fix available
A fix is available. Upgrade to after 6.1 or later.
See remediation →
87/100
Remediation priority · High
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
Cisco Prime Data Center Network Manager (DCNM) before 6.2(1) allows remote attackers to read arbitrary text files via an XML external entity declaration in conjunction with an entity reference, related to an XML External Entity (XXE) issue, aka Bug ID CSCud80148.

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 confidence

Cisco Prime Data Center Network Manager (DCNM) before version 6.2(1) contains an XML External Entity (XXE) injection vulnerability. The application's XML parser processes external entity declarations without proper sanitization, allowing remote attackers to read arbitrary text files on the server by crafting malicious XML requests with entity references pointing to local file paths.

MitigationUpgrade Cisco Prime DCNM to version 6.2(1) or later to obtain the patch for this vulnerability. If immediate upgrade is not feasible, consider implementing XML input validation or disabling external entity processing at the application or web server level as a compensating control.

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
Prime Data Center Network ManagerApplication
Affected:<= 6.1\(1b\)= 5.2\(2e\)= 6.1\(1a\)= 4.1\(2\)= 4.1\(3\)= 4.1\(4\)= 4.1\(5\)= 4.2\(1\)= 4.2\(3\)= 5.0\(2\)= 5.0\(3\)= 5.1\(1\)

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
None
Availability
None

AV:N/AC:L/Au:N/C:C/I:N/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 checks

Work through these to decide whether this CVE applies to you.

  1. Identify installed Cisco Prime DCNM version
    Locate the DCNM installation directory and check the version file or use the dcnmServer -version command if available. Common locations include /opt/dcnm or C:\Program Files\Cisco\DCNM. Look for a version.txt, version.properties, or similar file within the installation directory.
    Affected if The installed version matches any of the following: <= 6.1(1b), 5.2(2e), 6.1(1a), 4.1(2), 4.1(3), 4.1(4), 4.1(5), 4.2(1), 4.2(3), 5.0(2), 5.0(3), or 5.1(1)
  2. Verify XML-based functionality is in use
    Determine if the DCNM deployment uses XML-based communication for API calls, import/export features, or configuration templates. Check for XML file uploads, network device configuration imports, or custom XML-based reporting features in the web interface.
    Affected if XML import/export, API calls using XML format, or XML-based configuration templates are actively used in the environment
  3. Review XML parser configuration
    Examine the DCNM configuration files for XML parser settings. Look in the conf or config subdirectory of the installation for files like web.xml, server.xml, or application-specific XML configuration files that control the parser behavior.
    Affected if The XML parser is configured to allow external entity processing or has no explicit disabling of XXE protections
  4. Check DCNM web interface accessibility
    Verify if the DCNM web interface is accessible externally or by untrusted users. The XXE vulnerability is exploitable through crafted XML requests sent to the application's XML parser endpoint.
    Affected if The DCNM web interface or XML API endpoints are reachable by unauthorized or untrusted network segments

The environment is affected if the installed Cisco Prime DCNM version is 6.1(1b) or lower, or matches any of the specific affected version numbers (5.2(2e), 6.1(1a), 4.1(x), 4.2(x), 5.0(x), 5.1(1)), and the system processes XML input through the DCNM interface.

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.

From vendor data
Upgrade available Upgrade to a release after 6.1
Interim mitigation

Upgrade Cisco Prime DCNM to version 6.2(1) or later to obtain the patch for this vulnerability. If immediate upgrade is not feasible, consider implementing XML input validation or disabling external entity processing at the application or web server level as a compensating control.

Fix this in Prime Data Center Network Manager Scoped from the published advisory
  • Consultation4.0 h
  • Implementation6.0 h
  • Testing4.0 h
  • Review / QA2.0 h
16.0 hours of engineering $2,840
Get the upgrade done

An estimate, not a bill — we confirm scope with you before any work starts. Need it this week? Rush from $4,544.

Scan for this in your stack

Free · runs locally
dbcve dependency scanner

Check whether your project pulls in CVE-2013-5490 — or any other known-vulnerable package — straight from your lock files. Free and open source; it runs locally and uploads nothing.

Get it on GitHub Scan in the browser

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-2013-5490 in production — separate from our analysis above.

No notes yet

Be the first to add a field note for this CVE — a mitigation you’ve verified, a version caveat, or a link to a working fix. Sign in above to contribute.

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