How severe is CVE-2013-4179?

No CVSS score has been assigned to CVE-2013-4179 yet. Review the advisory details and affected package list to assess your exposure.

Which packages are affected by CVE-2013-4179?

CVE-2013-4179 affects the following packages: nova (PyPI). Ecosystems affected: PyPI.

How do I fix CVE-2013-4179?

Update nova to 2013.2 or later, then make sure no transitive (indirect) dependency still pins the vulnerable range — O3 confirms CVE-2013-4179 is resolved across your whole dependency graph.

How do I detect CVE-2013-4179 in my PyPI dependencies?

Scan your dependency tree (package-lock.json, pnpm-lock.yaml, requirements.txt, go.sum, etc.) for nova, including transitive dependencies — a direct dependency you never call can still pull in a vulnerable version.

How do I mitigate CVE-2013-4179 if there is no patch (or I can't update yet)?

Stop feeding it untrusted input: reject or quarantine files and payloads from unverified sources until you can upgrade, restrict accepted formats to the ones you actually need, and run the parsing or decoding step in a least-privileged sandbox or short-lived worker so a crash or corrupted read cannot reach the rest of the process.

Is CVE-2013-4179 actively exploited in the wild?

Yes. There are 1 known exploit references for CVE-2013-4179, including 1 in-the-wild exploitation observed on GitHub and other sources. Treat this as actively exploitable and prioritize patching immediately. All exploit code should only be run in an isolated sandbox environment for research or authorized testing — never against production systems without explicit written authorization.

What is the EPSS score for CVE-2013-4179?

CVE-2013-4179 has an EPSS (Exploit Prediction Scoring System) score of 2.7%, placing it in the 86th percentile of all CVEs. EPSS is maintained by FIRST.org and estimates the probability that a vulnerability will be exploited in the wild within the next 30 days. This score indicates relatively lower exploitation probability, though the CVSS severity should still guide your patching priority.

What type of vulnerability is CVE-2013-4179?

CVE-2013-4179 is classified as Buffer Overflow (CWE-119). This weakness type describe the underlying flaw category, which helps determine the potential impact and the right class of mitigation. This is a high-impact weakness class that often enables remote code execution or data exposure.

When was CVE-2013-4179 published, and has it been updated?

CVE-2013-4179 was published on September 16, 2013 and was last updated on July 7, 2026. Advisory data evolves as severity scores, affected ranges, and exploit intelligence are revised — always check the latest version of the advisory before acting.

🐍 PyPI

Not in CISA KEV

CVE-2013-4179 — nova

CVE-2013-4179 is a Buffer Overflow vulnerability in nova. 1 public exploit or proof-of-concept reference is indexed, so weaponization risk is real. A fix is available for nova — see the affected versions and patch details below.

OpenStack Compute (Nova) vulnerable to denial of service via XML Entity Expansion attack

Also known asGHSA-j6xh-q826-55jwPYSEC-2026-875

Published

Sep 16, 2013

Updated

Jul 7, 2026

Affected

1 pkg

Patched

1 / 1

Exploits

1 known

Exploitation data as of Nov 5, 2026 · OSV.dev, NVD, FIRST.org (EPSS)

EPSS Exploitation Probability

via FIRST.org ↗

2.7%probability of exploitation in next 30 days

Lower Risk0.00%

Lower risk than most CVEs86th percentile — riskier than 86% of all scored CVEsHighest risk

Probability of exploitation in the next 30 days, from FIRST.org EPSS.

Real-World Exposure

1 pkg affected

🐍nova

Real-time download stats are indexed for npm and PyPI packages. This vulnerability affects PyPI packages — download data is not available via public APIs for these ecosystems.

Description

The security group extension in OpenStack Compute (Nova) Grizzly 2013.1.3, Havana before havana-3, and earlier allows remote attackers to cause a denial of service (resource consumption and crash) via an XML Entity Expansion (XEE) attack. NOTE: this issue is due to an incomplete fix for CVE-2013-1664.

Affected Packages

1 total 1 fixed

Ecosystem	Package	Vulnerable range	Fix
🐍PyPI	`nova`	all versions	2013.2`pip install --upgrade 'nova==2013.2'`

Affected Products

2 products · 3 configurations

Application

computeopenstack

1 version

2013.1.3

Application

havanaopenstack

≤ havana-2

1 version

havana-1

Exploits & PoCs

Research use only. For defensive security, authorized penetration testing, and academic research only. Never execute exploit code against systems without explicit written authorization.

The security group extension in OpenStack Compute (Nova) Grizzly 2013.1.…

bugs.launchpad.netNVDOct 2013

Detection & mitigation playbook

Open-source dependency

Detect
Scan your dependency tree (package-lock.json, pnpm-lock.yaml, requirements.txt, go.sum, etc.) for nova, including transitive dependencies — a direct dependency you never call can still pull in a vulnerable version.
Fix
Update nova to 2013.2 or later, then make sure no transitive (indirect) dependency still pins the vulnerable range — O3 confirms CVE-2013-4179 is resolved across your whole dependency graph.
Workarounds
Stop feeding it untrusted input: reject or quarantine files and payloads from unverified sources until you can upgrade, restrict accepted formats to the ones you actually need, and run the parsing or decoding step in a least-privileged sandbox or short-lived worker so a crash or corrupted read cannot reach the rest of the process.

Fixing This On Your OS

If you run this on a Linux distribution, patch through your package manager against the distro's own security advisory below — it tracks the exact backported fix for your release, which can ship on a different timeline (and sometimes a different severity) than the upstream project.

Red HatModerate

Product	Fixed in	Advisory
OpenStack 3 for RHEL 6	`openstack-nova-0:2013.1.3-3.el6ost`	RHSA-2013:1199

Frequently Asked Questions

O3 Security · Impact-Aware SCA

Is CVE-2013-4179 in your dependencies?

Find it across PyPI, including transitive dependencies.

Scan my dependencies How O3 SCA works