CVE-2013-4245 – CVE-2013-4245 is a vulnerability in Orca, a scr... (How to Fix)

Q: What is the severity of CVE-2013-4245?

CVE-2013-4245 has a CVSS score of 7.3 (HIGH). CVE-2013-4245 is a vulnerability in Orca, a screen reader for GNOME, that allows arbitrary code execution due to insecure Python module loading. Attackers can execute malicious code by tricking users into opening specially crafted files. This affects users running vulnerable versions of Orca on Linux systems.

📋 TL;DR

CVE-2013-4245 is a vulnerability in Orca, a screen reader for GNOME, that allows arbitrary code execution due to insecure Python module loading. Attackers can execute malicious code by tricking users into opening specially crafted files. This affects users running vulnerable versions of Orca on Linux systems.

💻 Affected Systems

Products:

Orca screen reader

Versions: Versions prior to 3.8.2

Operating Systems: Linux distributions with GNOME desktop environment

Default Config Vulnerable: ⚠️ Yes

Notes: Only affects systems where Orca is installed and enabled. Most users don't run Orca by default unless they need accessibility features.

📦 What is this software?

⚠️ Risk & Real-World Impact

🔴

Worst Case

Full system compromise with attacker gaining the same privileges as the user running Orca, potentially leading to data theft, system manipulation, or further network penetration.

🟠

Likely Case

Local privilege escalation or arbitrary code execution in the context of the user running Orca, allowing attackers to install malware, steal credentials, or access sensitive files.

🟢

If Mitigated

Limited impact if proper file access controls and user privilege separation are implemented, with potential containment to the user's session.

🌐 Internet-Facing: LOW - Orca is typically a local accessibility tool not directly exposed to the internet.

🏢 Internal Only: MEDIUM - Requires local access or social engineering to exploit, but could be used in targeted attacks against users with Orca enabled.

🎯 Exploit Status

Public PoC: ⚠️ Yes

Weaponized: LIKELY

Unauthenticated Exploit: ✅ No

Complexity: LOW

Exploitation requires user interaction (opening a malicious file) and local access to the system. The vulnerability is in Python's module loading mechanism within Orca.

🛠️ Fix & Mitigation

✅ Official Fix

Patch Version: Orca 3.8.2 and later

Vendor Advisory: https://access.redhat.com/security/cve/cve-2013-4245

Restart Required: Yes

Instructions:

1. Update Orca package using your distribution's package manager. 2. For Red Hat/CentOS: yum update orca. 3. For Debian/Ubuntu: apt-get update && apt-get install orca. 4. Restart Orca or reboot the system.

🔧 Temporary Workarounds

Disable Orca if not needed

linux

Temporarily disable Orca screen reader to eliminate attack surface

orca --quit
killall orca

Restrict file execution

linux

Implement file access controls to prevent execution of untrusted Python files

chmod -R 644 /usr/lib/python*/site-packages/orca
chown root:root /usr/lib/python*/site-packages/orca/*

🧯 If You Can't Patch

Disable Orca completely if accessibility features are not required
Implement strict file access controls and user privilege separation to limit potential damage

🔍 How to Verify

Check if Vulnerable:

Check Orca version with: orca --version | grep -E '3\.8\.(0|1)'

Check Version:

orca --version

Verify Fix Applied:

Verify Orca version is 3.8.2 or higher: orca --version

📡 Detection & Monitoring

Log Indicators:

Unusual Python module loading in Orca process logs
Suspicious file access patterns from Orca

Network Indicators:

Not applicable - local vulnerability

SIEM Query:

process_name="orca" AND (command_line CONTAINS "python" OR command_line CONTAINS "exec")

📊 Metadata

CVE ID: CVE-2013-4245

CVSS v3 Score: 7.3 (HIGH)

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

CWE: CWE-20

Published: December 11, 2019

Last Updated: November 21, 2024

🔗 References

https://access.redhat.com/security/cve/cve-2013-4245 Third Party Advisory
https://bugzilla.redhat.com/show_bug.cgi?id=CVE-2013-4245 Issue Tracking,Third Party Advisory
https://bugzilla.suse.com/show_bug.cgi?id=CVE-2013-4245 Issue Tracking,Third Party Advisory
https://security-tracker.debian.org/tracker/CVE-2013-4245 Third Party Advisory
https://access.redhat.com/security/cve/cve-2013-4245 Third Party Advisory
https://bugzilla.redhat.com/show_bug.cgi?id=CVE-2013-4245 Issue Tracking,Third Party Advisory
https://bugzilla.suse.com/show_bug.cgi?id=CVE-2013-4245 Issue Tracking,Third Party Advisory
https://security-tracker.debian.org/tracker/CVE-2013-4245 Third Party Advisory

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🔗 Related Vulnerabilities

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