CVE-2013-1910
📋 TL;DR
This vulnerability in yum (Yellowdog Updater Modified) allows attackers to cause denial of service or potentially execute arbitrary code by providing malicious metadata in a remote repository. Systems using yum package manager on Linux distributions are affected when they connect to untrusted repositories.
💻 Affected Systems
- yum
- yum-utils
📦 What is this software?
Yum by Baseurl
⚠️ Risk & Real-World Impact
Worst Case
Remote code execution leading to complete system compromise, data theft, or persistent backdoor installation.
Likely Case
Denial of service causing yum to crash or hang during package operations, disrupting system updates and maintenance.
If Mitigated
Limited impact if only trusted repositories are used and proper access controls prevent repository manipulation.
🎯 Exploit Status
Exploitation requires the victim to add or connect to a malicious repository. No authentication needed once repository is configured.
🛠️ Fix & Mitigation
✅ Official Fix
Patch Version: yum 3.4.3-132 or later
Vendor Advisory: https://access.redhat.com/security/cve/cve-2013-1910
Restart Required: No
Instructions:
1. Update yum: sudo yum update yum yum-utils
2. Verify update: rpm -q yum
3. Clear yum cache: sudo yum clean all
🔧 Temporary Workarounds
Use only trusted repositories
linuxConfigure yum to use only official, verified repositories and disable third-party repositories.
# Review current repos: sudo yum repolist all
# Disable untrusted repos in /etc/yum.repos.d/
Metadata validation
linuxEnable GPG signature checking for all repositories to verify metadata integrity.
# Ensure gpgcheck=1 in all repo files in /etc/yum.repos.d/
🧯 If You Can't Patch
- Restrict network access to only trusted repository servers using firewall rules
- Implement strict change control for repository configuration files
🔍 How to Verify
Check if Vulnerable:
Check yum version: rpm -q yum | grep -E '3\.4\.[0-2]|3\.[0-3]\.'Check Version:
rpm -q yumVerify Fix Applied:
Verify yum version is 3.4.3-132 or later: rpm -q yum📡 Detection & Monitoring
Log Indicators:
- yum crashes or hangs in /var/log/yum.log
- Unusual repository additions in yum configuration
Network Indicators:
- Connections to unknown repository servers
- Unusual DNS queries for repository domains
SIEM Query:
source="/var/log/yum.log" AND ("error" OR "crash" OR "hang")🔗 References
- http://www.openwall.com/lists/oss-security/2013/03/29/4
- http://www.securityfocus.com/bid/58533
- https://access.redhat.com/security/cve/cve-2013-1910
- https://bugzilla.redhat.com/show_bug.cgi?id=CVE-2013-1910
- https://exchange.xforce.ibmcloud.com/vulnerabilities/83348
- https://security-tracker.debian.org/tracker/CVE-2013-1910
- http://www.openwall.com/lists/oss-security/2013/03/29/4
- http://www.securityfocus.com/bid/58533
- https://access.redhat.com/security/cve/cve-2013-1910
- https://bugzilla.redhat.com/show_bug.cgi?id=CVE-2013-1910
- https://exchange.xforce.ibmcloud.com/vulnerabilities/83348
- https://security-tracker.debian.org/tracker/CVE-2013-1910
