CVE-2013-1816 – CVE-2013-1816 is a denial of service vulnerabil... (How to Fix)

Q: How do I fix CVE-2013-1816?

1. Backup your MediaWiki installation and database. 2. Download and install MediaWiki 1.19.4 or 1.20.3 from mediawiki.org. 3. Follow the MediaWiki upgrade documentation. 4. Restart your web server (Apache/Nginx) and PHP-FPM if applicable.

Q: What is the severity of CVE-2013-1816?

CVE-2013-1816 has a CVSS score of 7.5 (HIGH). CVE-2013-1816 is a denial of service vulnerability in MediaWiki where remote attackers can crash the application by sending specially crafted requests. This affects MediaWiki installations before version 1.19.4 and 1.20.x before 1.20.3. Any MediaWiki instance accessible to attackers is vulnerable.

📋 TL;DR

CVE-2013-1816 is a denial of service vulnerability in MediaWiki where remote attackers can crash the application by sending specially crafted requests. This affects MediaWiki installations before version 1.19.4 and 1.20.x before 1.20.3. Any MediaWiki instance accessible to attackers is vulnerable.

💻 Affected Systems

Products:

MediaWiki

Versions: MediaWiki < 1.19.4, MediaWiki 1.20.x < 1.20.3

Operating Systems: All operating systems running MediaWiki

Default Config Vulnerable: ⚠️ Yes

Notes: All MediaWiki installations within affected version ranges are vulnerable regardless of configuration.

📦 What is this software?

⚠️ Risk & Real-World Impact

🔴

Worst Case

Complete application unavailability requiring manual restart, potentially disrupting wiki services for extended periods.

🟠

Likely Case

Application crash requiring administrator intervention to restart services, causing temporary service disruption.

🟢

If Mitigated

Minimal impact with proper network segmentation and monitoring allowing quick detection and recovery.

🌐 Internet-Facing: HIGH - Remote unauthenticated attackers can trigger the vulnerability from anywhere on the internet.

🏢 Internal Only: MEDIUM - Internal attackers or compromised internal systems could still cause service disruption.

🎯 Exploit Status

Public PoC: ⚠️ Yes

Weaponized: LIKELY

Unauthenticated Exploit: ⚠️ Yes

Complexity: LOW

The vulnerability is triggered by specially crafted requests, making exploitation straightforward for attackers.

🛠️ Fix & Mitigation

✅ Official Fix

Patch Version: MediaWiki 1.19.4 or 1.20.3

Vendor Advisory: https://phabricator.wikimedia.org/T52741

Restart Required: Yes

Instructions:

1. Backup your MediaWiki installation and database. 2. Download and install MediaWiki 1.19.4 or 1.20.3 from mediawiki.org. 3. Follow the MediaWiki upgrade documentation. 4. Restart your web server (Apache/Nginx) and PHP-FPM if applicable.

🔧 Temporary Workarounds

Rate Limiting

all

Implement request rate limiting to reduce the impact of denial of service attempts.

# Configure in web server (Apache example):
# In .htaccess or virtual host config:
SetEnvIf Request_URI "^/index\.php" rate_limit
<IfModule mod_ratelimit.c>
    <Location />
        SetOutputFilter RATE_LIMIT
        SetEnv rate-limit 100
    </Location>
</IfModule>

Web Application Firewall

all

Deploy a WAF to filter malicious requests before they reach MediaWiki.

# ModSecurity rules example:
SecRule REQUEST_URI "@rx index\.php" \
    "id:1001,phase:1,deny,status:403,msg:'Potential MediaWiki DoS attempt'"
# Note: Specific rules would need to be tailored based on exploit details

🧯 If You Can't Patch

Implement strict network access controls to limit MediaWiki access to trusted sources only.
Deploy monitoring and alerting for application crashes with automated restart capabilities.

🔍 How to Verify

Check if Vulnerable:

Check MediaWiki version in LocalSettings.php or via Special:Version page. If version is < 1.19.4 or 1.20.x < 1.20.3, the system is vulnerable.

Check Version:

grep 'wgVersion' LocalSettings.php | grep -o '[0-9]\+\.[0-9]\+\.[0-9]\+'

Verify Fix Applied:

After upgrade, verify version is 1.19.4 or higher, or 1.20.3 or higher. Test application functionality remains intact.

📡 Detection & Monitoring

Log Indicators:

Multiple 500 Internal Server Error responses in short timeframe
Web server process crashes or restarts
PHP-FPM worker termination

Network Indicators:

Unusual spike in requests to index.php or MediaWiki endpoints
Repeated similar requests from single IP addresses

SIEM Query:

source="web_server_logs" status=500 uri="*index.php*" | stats count by src_ip uri

📊 Metadata

CVE ID: CVE-2013-1816

CVSS v3 Score: 7.5 (HIGH)

CVSS Vector: CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:L/PR:N/UI:N/S:U/C:N/I:N/A:H

CWE: CWE-20

Published: November 20, 2019

Last Updated: November 21, 2024

🔗 References

http://security.gentoo.org/glsa/glsa-201310-21.xml Third Party Advisory
http://www.openwall.com/lists/oss-security/2013/03/05/4 Mailing List,Release Notes,Third Party Advisory
http://www.securityfocus.com/bid/58306 Third Party Advisory,VDB Entry
https://bugzilla.redhat.com/show_bug.cgi?id=CVE-2013-1816 Issue Tracking,Third Party Advisory
https://exchange.xforce.ibmcloud.com/vulnerabilities/88360 Third Party Advisory,VDB Entry
https://security-tracker.debian.org/tracker/CVE-2013-1816 Third Party Advisory
http://security.gentoo.org/glsa/glsa-201310-21.xml Third Party Advisory
http://www.openwall.com/lists/oss-security/2013/03/05/4 Mailing List,Release Notes,Third Party Advisory
http://www.securityfocus.com/bid/58306 Third Party Advisory,VDB Entry
https://bugzilla.redhat.com/show_bug.cgi?id=CVE-2013-1816 Issue Tracking,Third Party Advisory
https://exchange.xforce.ibmcloud.com/vulnerabilities/88360 Third Party Advisory,VDB Entry
https://security-tracker.debian.org/tracker/CVE-2013-1816 Third Party Advisory

📤 Share & Export

📄 Export Markdown 📋 Export JSON

🔗 Related Vulnerabilities

If you're affected by CVE-2013-1816, you might also want to check these: