Cyber Resilience

CVE-2013-3993

Path Traversal in Ibm Infosphere Biginsights ≤ 2.1.0.3

CISA KEVActive ExploitationEUVD ExploitedRansomware-linkedPath Traversal
Published
07 July 2014
Modified
21 April 2026
KEV Added
25 May 2022
Patch / advisory
CVSS Score v3.1 6.5
Click a component to see what it means
Raw vectorCVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:L/PR:L/UI:N/S:U/C:H/I:N/A:N
EPSS Score 0.052 92th percentile
Risk Priority 76 floored blend · peak EPSS

Summary

CVE-2013-3993 is a medium-severity Path Traversal (CWE-22) vulnerability in Ibm Infosphere Biginsights. Its CVSS base score is 6.5 (Medium).

Operationally, exploitation aligns with the MITRE ATT&CK technique Exploit Public-Facing Application (T1190); ranked in the top 8% of CVEs by exploit likelihood; CISA has added it to the Known Exploited Vulnerabilities catalog.

Deeper analysis AI-assisted summary

Synthesised by an AI model from the NVD description and linked references — a reading aid, not an authoritative source.

IBM InfoSphere BigInsights versions prior to 2.1.0.3 contain a path traversal vulnerability tracked as CVE-2013-3993 and assigned CWE-22. The flaw resides in unspecified API calls that accept crafted parameters, enabling improper access to files and directories outside intended boundaries.

Remote authenticated users can exploit the issue over the network with low attack complexity to bypass file and directory restrictions or retrieve untrusted data and code. The CVSS 3.1 score of 6.5 reflects high confidentiality impact without requiring user interaction.

IBM advisory swg21677445 and related Secunia entries direct administrators to upgrade to BigInsights 2.1.0.3 or later to address the exposure. No public reports of in-the-wild exploitation appear in the referenced sources.

OWASP Top 10 for Web (2025)

EU & UK References

Vulnerability Data

IBM InfoSphere BigInsights before 2.1.0.3 allows remote authenticated users to bypass intended file and directory restrictions, or access untrusted data or code, via crafted parameters in unspecified API calls.

CWE(s)
KEV Date Added
25 May 2022

Related Threats

MITRE ATT&CK Enterprise Techniques

T1190 Exploit Public-Facing Application Initial Access
Adversaries may attempt to exploit a weakness in an Internet-facing host or system to initially access a network.
Derived from this CVE’s CWE(s) via the direct CWE→ATT&CK cross-walk.

CVEs Like This One

CVE-2020-4430Same vendor: Ibmboth on KEV
CVE-2023-35016Same vendor: Ibm
CVE-2023-38012Same vendor: Ibm
CVE-2024-56477Same vendor: Ibm
CVE-2026-2606Same vendor: Ibm
CVE-2023-38019Same vendor: Ibm
CVE-2023-38366Same vendor: Ibm
CVE-2025-3356Same vendor: Ibm
CVE-2023-25689Same vendor: Ibm
CVE-2024-45074Same vendor: Ibm

Affected Assets

ibm
infosphere biginsights
≤ 2.1.0.3

Mitigating Controls

Control response

Prevent
Stop it (NIST 800-53)

Detect
Catch it (NIST detect / respond)

Harden
Shrink the surface (DISA STIG)

Validate
Prove the fix (OWASP ASVS)
  • V5.3.2

Likely Mitigating Controls AI

Per-CVE control mapping for this CVE has not run yet; the list below is derived from the weakness types (CWEs) cited in the NVD entry.

addresses: CWE-22

Validates pathnames and filenames to prevent traversal outside intended directories.

Mitigating Controls (NIST CSF 2.0) AI

Derived directly from the weakness types (CWEs) cited in the NVD entry via our AI-authored CWE→CSF cross-walk (authority under review) — links open the control.

PR.PS-02 partial match
prevents

Patching/maintenance can remediate known path-traversal flaws in deployed software (partial prevention of exploitability) but does nothing to stop the coding defect from being introduced in the first place.

PR.AA-05 none match
prevents

PR.AA-05 defines and reviews access policies but does not address code-level pathname neutralization, so neither direction prevents CWE-22.

Mitigating Controls (ISO/IEC 27001:2022 Annex A) AI

Derived directly from the weakness types (CWEs) cited in the NVD entry via our AI-authored CWE→ISO cross-walk (authority under review) — links open the control.

finds

Security testing in development catches path traversal via static/dynamic analysis.

prevents

Secure SDLC mandates input validation and path sanitization that directly prevent path traversal.

prevents

Application security requirements include rules for safe file handling and canonicalization.

prevents

Secure architecture principles require least-privilege file access and directory isolation.

prevents

Secure coding standards explicitly forbid unsafe path construction and mandate safe APIs.

mitigates

Information access restriction limits which files an application may read or write.

References