# CVE-2013-7379: tomato API admin authentication bypass

Source: https://junglewise.ai/threats/cve-2013-7379-tomato-api-admin-authentication-bypass  
Publisher: Junglewise Threat Intelligence, https://junglewise.ai/threats  
Published: 2020-08-31. Updated: 2026-09-25  
License: CC BY 4.0 with a link back

CVE-2013-7379 · Severity: info · CVSS 9.8 · Published 2020-08-31

Tomato is a Node.js application framework that provides an API admin service protected by an access key. Versions before 0.0.6 have a severe authentication weakness that allows an attacker to bypass the admin protection by submitting single characters until one matches a character within the configured access key—potentially compromising the API in fewer than 200 attempts regardless of password complexity.

Vendors: [npm](https://junglewise.ai/threats/vendors/npm).

## Quick answers

**Is CVE-2013-7379 exploited in the wild?** No. Junglewise Threat Intelligence has no report of CVE-2013-7379 being exploited in the wild.

**How severe is CVE-2013-7379?** Informational severity, with a CVSS score of 9.8, published 31 August 2020.

**Which products and versions are affected?** tomato (npm) SEMVER:introduced=0,fixed=0.0.6.

**Is there a fix for CVE-2013-7379?** Yes. tomato (npm): upgrade to 0.0.6 or later. Junglewise finds every place you run it, drafts the upgrade and applies it once you approve.

**How is CVE-2013-7379 attacked?** It is attacked over the network.

**Am I affected by CVE-2013-7379?** Check whether you run tomato (npm) at an affected version. Junglewise does that check for you around the clock: connect your code, cloud and domains, and it matches new vulnerabilities like this one against what you actually run and tells you when one reaches you.

## How to fix

- tomato (npm): upgrade to 0.0.6 or later

  ```sh
  npm install tomato@0.0.6
  ```


## Technical details

The vulnerability is an authentication bypass (CWE-287) in the admin service's access key verification logic. The vulnerable code uses indexOf() to check if the user-supplied access_key appears anywhere within the server's configured master key, rather than performing an exact string comparison. This flawed logic allows an attacker to trivially enumerate the character set of the server's key and gain admin access. Attack requires network access to the API endpoint and no prior authentication; the attacker can automate the process in under 200 requests. This grants full command execution via the /api/exec endpoint. The fix is to upgrade to version 0.0.6 or later.

## Affected products

- tomato tomato <0.0.6

## Identifiers

- CVE-2013-7379
- GHSA-9vxc-g2jx-qj3p

## Timeline

- 2020-08-31: disclosed: Advisory published
- 2014: patched: Fix released in version 0.0.6

## References

- [https://github.com/leizongmin/tomato/commit/9e427d524e04a905312a3294c85e939ed7d57b8c](https://github.com/leizongmin/tomato/commit/9e427d524e04a905312a3294c85e939ed7d57b8c)

## Related threats

- [tomato command injection in /api/exec endpoint](https://junglewise.ai/threats/tomato-command-injection-in-api-exec-endpoint-e8f6a7d6)