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Vcenter Server CVE-2013-1405

CRITICAL
Improper Authentication (CWE-287)
2013-02-15 cve@mitre.org
10.0
CVSS 2.0 · NVD
View

Vulnerability Assessment

Weakness
CWE
OWASP Top 10:2025
A07:2025 - Authentication Failures
ASVS 5.0
V6 - Authentication Authentication mechanism validation
MITRE ATT&CK

2 techniques across 2 tactics: Defense Evasion, Initial Access

The technique list with ATT&CK links and the kill-chain view is part of the Basic plan and up.

Impact

CVSS score of 10.0 (CRITICAL). Attack characteristics: network attack vector, low complexity. EPSS exploitation probability: 0.90%.

Exploit ScenarioDerived

A remote attacker could bypass authentication mechanisms to gain unauthorized access by sending crafted requests to the affected application.

Act Now Prioritize within 24-48h. Why: CRITICAL severity.
No patch listed yet 0.9% exploitation probability (EPSS)

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AnalysisAI

VMware vCenter Server 4.0 before Update 4b and 4.1 before Update 3a, VMware VirtualCenter 2.5, VMware vSphere Client 4.0 before Update 4b and 4.1 before Update 3a, VMware VI-Client 2.5, VMware ESXi. Rated critical severity (CVSS 10.0), this vulnerability is remotely exploitable, low attack complexity. No vendor patch available.

RemediationAI

No vendor patch is available at time of analysis. Monitor vendor advisories for updates. Implement multi-factor authentication, enforce strong password policies, use proven authentication frameworks.

Affects your stack

Find out whether the stacks and servers you run are on an affected version.

Checking this CVE against your own stacks and servers is part of the Basic plan and up.

Technical ContextAI · show details

This vulnerability is classified as Improper Authentication (CWE-287), which allows attackers to bypass authentication mechanisms to gain unauthorized access. VMware vCenter Server 4.0 before Update 4b and 4.1 before Update 3a, VMware VirtualCenter 2.5, VMware vSphere Client 4.0 before Update 4b and 4.1 before Update 3a, VMware VI-Client 2.5, VMware ESXi 3.5 through 4.1, and VMware ESX 3.5 through 4.1 do not properly implement the management authentication protocol, which allow remote servers to execute arbitrary code or cause a denial of service (memory corruption) via unspecified vectors. Affected products include: Vmware Vcenter Server, Vmware Virtualcenter, Vmware Vsphere Client, Vmware Vi-Client, Vmware Esxi. Version information: through 4.1.

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  • Exploit and PoC references, threat intelligence from 22 sources

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Severity by source

NVD PRIMARY 10.0 CRITICAL
AV:N/AC:L/Au:N/C:C/I:C/A:C

Primary rating from NVD · only source for this CVE.

CVSS VectorNVD

Attack Vector
Network
Attack Complexity
Low
Confidentiality
C
Integrity
C
Availability
C

DescriptionCVE.org

VMware vCenter Server 4.0 before Update 4b and 4.1 before Update 3a, VMware VirtualCenter 2.5, VMware vSphere Client 4.0 before Update 4b and 4.1 before Update 3a, VMware VI-Client 2.5, VMware ESXi 3.5 through 4.1, and VMware ESX 3.5 through 4.1 do not properly implement the management authentication protocol, which allow remote servers to execute arbitrary code or cause a denial of service (memory corruption) via unspecified vectors.

Threat Intelligence Overview

EPSS Score
0.9%
Top 24% exploitable
Data Quality
3 sources
Confidence: Low

How this decision was reached

The engine reads each signal below and applies a fixed list of rules from top to bottom. The first rule that matches sets the recommended action – like a statement, every line is shown.

SignalValue
Severity CRITICAL
CISA KEV No
Public POC No
EPSS 0.9%
Patch available No
Active threat No
Deciding rule
CRITICAL severity
What every action level means
Emergency Immediate action required. Criteria: CRITICAL + in CISA KEV (actively exploited) without patch, OR CRITICAL + EPSS > 30% without patch, OR CRITICAL + active threat signals without patch.
Act Now Prioritize within 24-48h. Criteria: in KEV with patch available, OR CRITICAL + public POC, OR HIGH + EPSS > 10%, OR CRITICAL + active threat, OR any CRITICAL severity.
This Week Schedule remediation this week. Criteria: HIGH severity (CVSS 7.0-8.9). Patch within normal change window.
This Month Plan within 30 days. Criteria: MEDIUM severity (CVSS 4.0-6.9), lower exploitation probability. Include in regular patch cycle.
Monitor Track and reassess. Criteria: LOW severity (CVSS 0.1-3.9), minimal exploitation risk. No immediate action needed.

SSVC AssessmentENISA

SSVC Decision· derived
Scheduled
Exploitation· derived
None
System Exposure· derived
Open
Automatable· derived
No
Human Impact· derived
Medium

Priority Score

51
Low Medium High Critical
KEV: 0
EPSS: +1
CVSS: +50
PoC: 0
Weaponized: 0
Threat intel: 0
Gov advisory: 0

Attack Technique

Authentication bypass attacks exploit flaws in the verification mechanisms that control access to systems and applications.

A buffer overflow occurs when a program writes more data to a memory buffer than it was allocated to hold, causing the excess data to spill into adjacent memory regions.

Remote Code Execution represents the critical moment when an attacker successfully runs arbitrary code on a target system without physical access.

Denial of Service attacks render applications or systems unavailable by overwhelming resources or triggering failure conditions.

Affected Products (CPE)CVE.org

cpe:2.3:a:vmware:vcenter_server:4.0:update_4:*:*:*:*:*:*
cpe:2.3:a:vmware:vcenter_server:4.1:update_3:*:*:*:*:*:*
cpe:2.3:a:vmware:virtualcenter:2.5:*:*:*:*:*:*:*
cpe:2.3:a:vmware:vsphere_client:4.0:update_4:*:*:*:*:*:*
cpe:2.3:a:vmware:vsphere_client:4.1:update_3:*:*:*:*:*:*
cpe:2.3:a:vmware:vi-client:2.5:*:*:*:*:*:*:*
cpe:2.3:o:vmware:esxi:3.5:*:*:*:*:*:*:*
cpe:2.3:o:vmware:esxi:3.5:1:*:*:*:*:*:*
cpe:2.3:o:vmware:esxi:4.0:*:*:*:*:*:*:*
cpe:2.3:o:vmware:esxi:4.0:1:*:*:*:*:*:*
cpe:2.3:o:vmware:esxi:4.0:2:*:*:*:*:*:*
cpe:2.3:o:vmware:esxi:4.0:3:*:*:*:*:*:*
cpe:2.3:o:vmware:esxi:4.0:4:*:*:*:*:*:*
cpe:2.3:o:vmware:esxi:4.1:*:*:*:*:*:*:*
cpe:2.3:o:vmware:esx:3.5:*:*:*:*:*:*:*
cpe:2.3:o:vmware:esx:3.5:update1:*:*:*:*:*:*
cpe:2.3:o:vmware:esx:3.5:update2:*:*:*:*:*:*
cpe:2.3:o:vmware:esx:3.5:update3:*:*:*:*:*:*
cpe:2.3:o:vmware:esx:4.0:*:*:*:*:*:*:*
cpe:2.3:o:vmware:esx:4.1:*:*:*:*:*:*:*
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