CVE-2013-0261 — Packstack: packstack: arbitrary file overwrite via symlink attack

Triage

Is it exploited, how likely is exploitation, what does it touch, and how severe do the sources call it.

Remediation

Fixes and mitigations documented by the sources — linked to the original advisory.

No fix documented by the sources we poll. That does not mean none exists: check the vendor advisory.

First 24 hours

Ordered from the record’s own fields — exposure first, because you cannot patch what you have not found. A rule-generated starting point.

1. Identify exposed assets running the affected vendor/product/version combinations (OpenStack Essex, OpenStack Folsom, Red Hat OpenStack Folsom for RHEL 6…).
2. No fix documented in the sources: reduce exposure and monitor the vendor advisory.
3. Search available logs for exploit probes matching the vulnerability class (file handling), errors and authentication anomalies.

Affected scope

Vendor, product and versions as the sources word them.

Attack characteristics

The CVSS vector, decoded. It describes the attack, not your exposure to it.

Every base score collected

Sources score independently and may disagree; each row says who scored it and under which version.

Weakness MITRE

Weakness class according to MITRE’s CWE catalog.

CWE-59 · Link Following

Other CVEs with this weakness →

Detection

Read off the CVSS vector and the weakness class. Starting points, not tested rules.

• Local/physical vector: focus on endpoint telemetry (EDR) from affected hosts.
• Monitor file creation in web directories and paths with traversal sequences (../).

Timeline

What happened to this CVE, newest first.

• 2026
• Affected products added · red hat/openstack folsom for rhel 6, red hat/red hat enterprise linux openstack platform 5 (icehouse), red hat/red hat o
  Oct 30, 2026 · CVE Program (cve.org) e CISA ADP
• Record published
  Oct 30, 2026
• Affected products added · openstack/essex, openstack/folsom
  Oct 30, 2026 · NIST National Vulnerability Database
• CVSS changed · 8.8
  Oct 30, 2026 · NIST National Vulnerability Database
• Source status changed · → Modified
  Oct 30, 2026 · NIST National Vulnerability Database
• Record created in this database
  Oct 30, 2026 · Alertas do Telegram
• 2013
• CVE published
  Mar 8, 2013 · redhat

Source activity

Repeated readings are counted rather than listed.

• 2× References added · Oct 30, 2026 – Oct 30, 2026
• 1× Official description updated · Oct 30, 2026 – Oct 30, 2026

References

6 on the record

• rhn.redhat.com/errata/RHSA-2013-0595.html
  Vendor Advisory, NIST National Vulnerability Database
• github.com/advisories/GHSA-846g-25mr-v9p5
  GitHub Security Advisories
• nvd.nist.gov/vuln/detail/CVE-2013-0261
  GitHub Security Advisories
• access.redhat.com/security/cve/CVE-2013-0261
  vdb-entry, x_refsource_REDHAT, NIST National Vulnerability Database
• access.redhat.com/errata/RHSA-2013:0595
  vendor-advisory, x_refsource_REDHAT, NIST National Vulnerability Database
• bugzilla.redhat.com/show_bug.cgi
  NIST National Vulnerability Database

Elsewhere on this site

Related CVEs (same products)

• Medium CVE-2013-1815 Packstack: red hat openstack: packstack: unauthorized system modification via insecure answer file creation Apr 10, 2013
• Medium CVE-2013-1840 Openstack glance: swift: s3: openstack glance: information disclosure of backend credentials via cached image request Mar 22, 2013
• Medium CVE-2013-0266 manifests/base.pp in the puppetlabs-cinder module, as used in PackStack, uses world-readable... Mar 8, 2013
• Medium CVE-2012-5625 Openstack nova: information leak in libvirt lvm-backed instances Dec 26, 2012
• Medium CVE-2012-5571 Openstack keystone: openstack keystone: authorization bypass via improper ec2 token handling Dec 17, 2012
• Medium CVE-2012-3426 OpenStack Keystone token expiration issues Jul 31, 2012

Not in any source we poll

Listed rather than left blank: an empty field and an unmeasured one look identical on screen, and only one is a reason to look elsewhere.

• No fixed version, patch or mitigation documented.
• No CISA SSVC assessment.
• No confirmed IOCs, IP addresses, domains, file hashes, or malware artifacts supplied.
• No organization-specific asset inventory, compensating-control status, or patch deployment evidence supplied.
• No exploit packet captures, log samples, or incident case IDs supplied.

Answered from this record

Text assembled only from the fields above — no additional claims.

What should defenders know first?

CVE-2013-0261 is "Packstack: packstack: arbitrary file overwrite via symlink attack", rated High. It affects Essex (OpenStack); versions are in the scope table. It is not in CISA KEV, which does not rule out exploitation. CVSS 8.8 describes technical severity. EPSS 0.34% estimates the probability of exploitation in 30 days; neither replaces your asset context. First verify whether exposed or business-critical assets run the affected versions, apply vendor fixes or mitigations, and preserve logs for review.

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