CVE-2014-4153
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 · uneditedThe av-centerd SOAP service in AlienVault OSSIM before 4.8.0 allows remote attackers to read arbitrary files via a crafted get_file request.
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 confidenceThe av-centerd SOAP service in AlienVault OSSIM before version 4.8.0 contains a path traversal vulnerability that allows unauthenticated remote attackers to read arbitrary files on the system via a crafted get_file request. This is a high-severity directory traversal flaw in the SOAP endpoint.
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<= 4.7.0= 4.0= 4.3.3= 4.4= 4.5= 4.6= 4.6.1CVSS 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 checksWork through these to decide whether this CVE applies to you.
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Confirm AlienVault OSSIM is installedCheck for OSSIM installation by looking for alienvault-related packages using 'dpkg -l | grep alienvault' or 'rpm -qa | grep alienvault' depending on your OS, or check for OSSIM-specific processes with 'ps aux | grep -i alien'Affected if No AlienVault OSSIM packages or processes are found - you are not using this product
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Determine the installed OSSIM versionCheck the OSSIM version file or configuration, such as examining /etc/ossim/ossim_setup.conf if it exists, or running 'alienvault-api -v' or 'ossim-reconfig -v' to retrieve the version numberAffected if The installed version is 4.7.0 or lower, or matches 4.0, 4.3.3, 4.4, 4.5, 4.6, or 4.6.1 - your version is within the affected range
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Verify the av-centerd SOAP service is runningCheck for the av-centerd process using 'ps aux | grep av-centerd' or check if port 40007 (common av-centerd port) is listening with 'netstat -tulpn | grep 40007' or 'ss -tulpn | grep 40007'Affected if The av-centerd service is actively running and listening on a network port - the vulnerable service is exposed
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Check if the SOAP endpoint accepts get_file requestsSend a crafted SOAP request to the av-centerd endpoint on port 40007 (or the configured port) with a get_file request containing path traversal sequences like '../' to see if arbitrary file access is possibleAffected if The SOAP endpoint responds to get_file requests and allows path traversal - the vulnerability is present and exploitable
You are affected if AlienVault OSSIM is installed with version 4.7.0 or lower (including 4.0, 4.3.3, 4.4, 4.5, 4.6, or 4.6.1) and the av-centerd SOAP service is running and network-accessible, allowing path traversal via get_file requests.
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 AlienVault OSSIM to version 4.8.0 or later to obtain the security patch. If immediate upgrading is not feasible, restrict network access to the av-centerd SOAP service using firewall rules or network segmentation.
- Consultation2.0 h
- Implementation4.0 h
- Testing4.0 h
- Review / QA2.0 h
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Free · runs locallyCheck whether your project pulls in CVE-2014-4153 — 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-2014-4153 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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