Adaptive Server EnterpriseApplication · Sybase

CVE-2013-6859

HIGH · 8.5 CVSS v2.0 Published 2013-11-23
Mitigation only
No fix yet — a mitigation exists. There is no fixed release. A documented workaround reduces exposure in the meantime.
See remediation →
91/100
Remediation priority · Urgent
Remotely reachable 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
SAP Sybase Adaptive Server Enterprise (ASE) before 15.0.3 ESD#4.3. 15.5 before 15.5 ESD#5.3, and 15.7 before 15.7 SP50 or 15.7 SP100 does not properly perform authorization, which allows remote authenticated users to gain privileges via unspecified 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 confidence

SAP Sybase Adaptive Server Enterprise (ASE) contains an authorization bypass vulnerability allowing remote authenticated users to gain elevated privileges through unspecified vectors. The flaw affects versions prior to 15.0.3 ESD#4.3, 15.5 prior to ESD#5.3, and 15.7 before SP50 or SP100.

MitigationUpgrade SAP Sybase ASE to version 15.0.3 ESD#4.3 or later, 15.5 ESD#5.3 or later, or 15.7 SP50/SP100 or later. Apply the appropriate patch per your version branch and verify the authorization controls function correctly post-upgrade.

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
Adaptive Server EnterpriseApplication
Affected:= 15.0.3= 15.5= 15.7

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
M
Authentication
Single
Confidentiality
Complete
Integrity
Complete
Availability
Complete

AV:N/AC:M/Au:S/C:C/I:C/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 checks

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

  1. Identify Sybase ASE version
    Execute the version query command for your Sybase ASE installation (such as 'select @@version' or 'sp_version' via isql) to retrieve the installed version number
    Affected if The version displayed is 15.0.3, 15.5, or 15.7, or any version prior to 15.0.3 ESD#4.3, 15.5 ESD#5.3, or 15.7 SP50/SP100 respectively
  2. Compare version against affected ranges
    Match your installed version string against the vulnerable ranges: 15.0.x versions before ESD#4.3, 15.5.x versions before ESD#5.3, and 15.7.x versions before SP50 or SP100
    Affected if Your installed version falls within any of these pre-patch ranges
  3. Determine if remote authentication is enabled
    Inspect the Sybase ASE server configuration for remote login permissions and network interfaces (check the interfaces file or sql.ini and review the 'allow remote login' setting)
    Affected if Remote logins are enabled and the server accepts remote authenticated connections
  4. Audit for privilege escalation
    Review system tables syslogins, sysroles, and srpauth for any unexpected grants of roles, especially the 'sa_role', to non-administrator accounts
    Affected if Unexpected elevated privileges exist for remote authenticated users that were not intentionally granted

You are affected if your Sybase ASE version is 15.0.3, 15.5, or 15.7 (or earlier) and remote authenticated users can connect to the server.

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
Mitigation available No clean upgrade yet — mitigate in the meantime
Mitigation

Upgrade SAP Sybase ASE to version 15.0.3 ESD#4.3 or later, 15.5 ESD#5.3 or later, or 15.7 SP50/SP100 or later. Apply the appropriate patch per your version branch and verify the authorization controls function correctly post-upgrade.

Fix this in Adaptive Server Enterprise Scoped from the published advisory
  • Consultation4.0 h
  • Implementation8.0 h
  • Testing4.0 h
  • Review / QA2.0 h
18.0 hours of engineering $3,200
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Scan for this in your stack

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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-2013-6859 in production — separate from our analysis above.

No notes yet

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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
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