CVE-2013-6482
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 · uneditedPidgin before 2.10.8 allows remote MSN servers to cause a denial of service (NULL pointer dereference and crash) via a crafted (1) SOAP response, (2) OIM XML response, or (3) Content-Length header.
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 confidencePidgin before version 2.10.8 contains a NULL pointer dereference vulnerability when processing certain MSN protocol responses. Remote malicious MSN servers can send crafted SOAP responses, OIM XML responses, or Content-Length headers that cause Pidgin to crash due to the NULL dereference, resulting in denial of service for the affected client.
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<= 2.10.7= 2.0.0= 2.0.1= 2.0.2= 2.1.0= 2.1.1= 2.2.0= 2.2.1= 2.2.2= 2.3.0= 2.3.1= 2.4.0CVSS 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
- None
- Availability
- Partial
AV:N/AC:L/Au:N/C:N/I:N/A:P
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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Check installed Pidgin versionOpen Pidgin, go to Help > About, or run 'pidgin --version' from command line. The version number is displayed in the dialog or terminal output.Affected if Version is 2.10.7 or lower, or specifically 2.0.0, 2.0.1, 2.0.2, 2.1.0, 2.1.1, 2.2.0, 2.2.1, 2.2.2, 2.3.0, 2.3.1, 2.4.0.
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Verify MSN protocol account existsIn Pidgin, go to Accounts > Manage Accounts. Look for any account with the protocol set to 'MSN' or 'Windows Live Messenger'.Affected if An account using the MSN or Windows Live Messenger protocol is configured.
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Confirm MSN protocol is enabledIn Pidgin, go to Accounts > Manage Accounts. Ensure the MSN account is not disabled (checkbox should be checked/ticked).Affected if The MSN account is enabled and active.
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Check Pidgin protocol pluginsNavigate to Pidgin's plugin directory (typically /usr/lib/pidgin/ or C:\Program Files\Pidgin\plugins on Windows) and verify the 'msn.prl' or 'msn.dll' protocol plugin file exists.Affected if The MSN protocol plugin is present on the system.
User is affected if running Pidgin version 2.10.7 or below AND has an active MSN protocol account configured.
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 Pidgin to version 2.10.8 or later to receive the fix for this vulnerability. Organizations should inventory all systems running vulnerable Pidgin versions and prioritize patching.
- Consultation2.0 h
- Implementation1.0 h
- Testing1.0 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 $1,456.
Scan for this in your stack
Free · runs locallyCheck whether your project pulls in CVE-2013-6482 — 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-2013-6482 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