CVE-2013-4278 — nova
Fix: openstack/nova@4054cc4CVE-2013-4278 is a CWE-264 vulnerability in nova. A fix is available for nova — see the affected versions and patch details below.
OpenStack Compute (Nova) Resource limit circumvention in Nova private flavors
EPSS Exploitation Probability
Probability of exploitation in the next 30 days, from FIRST.org EPSS.
Real-World Exposure
novaReal-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 "create an instance" API in OpenStack Compute (Nova) Folsom, Grizzly, and Havana does not properly enforce the os-flavor-access:is_public property, which allows remote authenticated users to boot arbitrary flavors by guessing the flavor id. NOTE: this issue is due to an incomplete fix for CVE-2013-2256.
Affected Packages
| Ecosystem | Package | Vulnerable range | Fix |
|---|---|---|---|
| 🐍PyPI | nova | all versions | 12.0.0a0pip install --upgrade 'nova==12.0.0a0' |
Affected Products
computeopenstackDetection & mitigation playbook
Open-source dependencyDetect
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 12.0.0a0 or later, then make sure no transitive (indirect) dependency still pins the vulnerable range — O3 confirms CVE-2013-4278 is resolved across your whole dependency graph.
Workarounds
If you can't upgrade right away: gate or disable the affected feature, validate untrusted input at the boundary, and avoid passing attacker-controlled data into the vulnerable path. O3's runtime protection blocks exploitation in production as an interim safeguard until the upgrade lands.
Frequently Asked Questions
Is CVE-2013-4278 in your dependencies?
Find it across PyPI, including transitive dependencies.