CVE-2014-5210
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 4.7.0 allows remote attackers to execute arbitrary commands via a crafted (1) remote_task or (2) get_license request, a different vulnerability than CVE-2014-3804 and CVE-2014-3805.
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 4.7.0 contains a command injection vulnerability allowing remote attackers to execute arbitrary operating system commands via specially crafted remote_task or get_license SOAP requests. This is a pre-authentication remote code execution flaw in the security management platform itself.
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<= 4.6.1= 1.0.4= 1.0.6= 2.1= 2.1.2= 2.1.5= 2.1.5-1= 2.1.5-2= 2.1.5-3= 3.1= 3.1.9= 3.1.10CVSS 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
- Complete
- Availability
- Complete
AV:N/AC:L/Au:N/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 checksWork through these to decide whether this CVE applies to you.
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Verify AlienVault OSSIM installationCheck for OSSIM by examining /etc/ossim/ossim_setup.conf or running 'dpkg -l | grep -i alienvault' on Debian-based systems. Alternatively, look for the av-centerd service process.Affected if The system is running AlienVault OSSIM and the av-centerd service is present.
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Identify OSSIM versionRun 'grep -r "OSSIM_VERSION" /etc/ossim/ossim_setup.conf' or 'cat /etc/ossim/version' to retrieve the installed OSSIM version number.Affected if The installed version is 4.6.1 or lower, or matches any of these specific versions: 1.0.4, 1.0.6, 2.1, 2.1.2, 2.1.5, 2.1.5-1, 2.1.5-2, 2.1.5-3, 3.1, 3.1.9, 3.1.10.
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Confirm av-centerd service is runningRun 'ps aux | grep av-centerd' or check the service status via 'service av-centerd status'. The SOAP service typically listens on TCP port 40007.Affected if The av-centerd process is running and listening on a network port.
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Verify SOAP service accessibilityRun 'netstat -tlnp | grep 40007' or 'ss -tlnp | grep 40007' to confirm the av-centerd SOAP port is bound and exposed. Check if it accepts external connections.Affected if Port 40007 is open and accessible from untrusted network segments.
If the system runs AlienVault OSSIM with a version matching the affected list and the av-centerd SOAP service is accessible, the environment is vulnerable to pre-authentication remote code execution.
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.
dbcve · scopedUpgrade AlienVault OSSIM to version 4.7.0 or later. If immediate patching is not feasible, implement network segmentation to restrict untrusted access to the av-centerd SOAP service port.
AlienVault OSSIM 4.7.0 or later
- 1. Backup the current OSSIM configuration and database before starting the upgrade
- 2. Download AlienVault OSSIM 4.7.0 or later from the official AlienVault download portal
- 3. Run the upgrade installer: dpkg -i alienvault-ossim_*_amd64.deb or use the web interface upgrade function
- 4. After upgrade completes, verify the av-centerd service is running: service av-centerd status
- 5. Test that the SOAP service responds correctly and restrict network access to authorized management IPs
Generated from the published advisory — verify against the referenced sources before acting.
- Consultation4.0 h
- Implementation12.0 h
- Testing6.0 h
- Review / QA3.0 h
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Scan for this in your stack
Free · runs locallyCheck whether your project pulls in CVE-2014-5210 — 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-2014-5210 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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- Version or environment caveats, and links to real fixes
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