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BoundaryApplication · Hashicorp

CVE-2024-12289

MEDIUM · 5.9 CVSS v3.1 Published 2024-12-12
Fix available
A fix is available. Upgrade to 0.16.4 / 0.17.3 or later.
See remediation →
68/100
Remediation priority · Elevated
Remotely reachable No privileges Zero-click

Official description Straight from the sourceThe vendor's or NVD's own wording, published unedited. Authoritative, but often terse — it says what broke, rarely what to do.

NVD · unedited
Boundary Community Edition and Boundary Enterprise (“Boundary”) incorrectly handle HTTP requests during the initialization of the Boundary controller, which may cause the Boundary server to terminate prematurely. Boundary is only vulnerable to this flaw during the initialization of the Boundary controller, which on average is measured in milliseconds during the Boundary startup process. This vulnerability, CVE-2024-12289, is fixed in Boundary Community Edition and Boundary Enterprise 0.16.4, 0.17.3, 0.18.2.

Technical summary Written by usOur analysis, written from the advisory, the CVSS vector and the affected-version data. It adds context the advisory leaves out, and never invents facts that are not in the source.

dbcve analysis · moderate confidence

During the initialization phase of the Boundary controller (milliseconds at startup), the software incorrectly handles HTTP requests in a way that can cause the server to terminate prematurely, resulting in a denial-of-service condition. This only occurs during the brief startup window, making exploitation time-sensitive.

MitigationUpgrade Boundary Community Edition or Enterprise to version 0.16.4, 0.17.3, or 0.18.2 or later to remediate this vulnerability.

Verify against the referenced sources before acting — the references below are authoritative for this CVE, this summary is not.

Affected products & versions What the vendor confirmedThe version ranges the vendor confirmed as vulnerable. If your version sits inside a range here, treat yourself as exposed until you have upgraded.

NVD · CPE data
BoundaryApplication
Affected:>= 0.8.0, < 0.16.4>= 0.17.0, < 0.17.3>= 0.18.0, < 0.18.2

CVSS breakdown How the score is builtThe industry scoring standard. It rates how the flaw is reached, what it takes to exploit, and what an attacker gains — the score is derived from those, not the other way round.

From the vector
Attack vector
Network
Complexity
High
Privileges
None
User interaction
None
Scope
Unchanged
Confidentiality
None
Integrity
None
Availability
High

CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:H/PR:N/UI:N/S:U/C:N/I:N/A:H

Am I affected? How to checkSteps we derive from the advisory and the affected-version data, so you can decide whether this CVE reaches your setup. They are a guide, not a scan — your own configuration is the authority.

dbcve checks

Work through these to decide whether this CVE applies to you.

  1. Check installed Boundary version
    Run `boundary --version` or inspect the Boundary binary to obtain the exact version number
    Affected if The version is 0.8.0 through 0.16.3, 0.17.0 through 0.17.2, or 0.18.0 through 0.18.1
  2. Locate Boundary configuration file
    Identify the configuration file used by your Boundary installation (default locations include /etc/boundary.hcl or specified via -config flag)
    Affected if Configuration file exists and defines controller listener settings
  3. Inspect controller listener configuration
    Open the configuration file and locate the `listener` block with `purpose` set to `api` or `controller`
    Affected if Listener is configured with `http` type and bound to a network address accessible to external requests
  4. Verify network exposure during startup
    Review network binding settings (host/port) in the listener configuration to determine if the controller is reachable over the network during the initialization window
    Affected if Controller listener http address is bound to a non-localhost interface and is network-accessible

You are affected if your Boundary version falls within the affected ranges AND the controller listener is configured to accept HTTP connections on a network-accessible address during startup.

Generated from the published advisory. Verify against your own configuration.

Check your environment

Paste your version and any relevant configuration and it will be compared against the affected criteria above. Do not include secrets or credentials.

AI-assisted, checked against the advisory. Informational, not a guarantee.

Remediation Closing itWhat it takes to close this. Where a vendor fix exists we point at it; where none exists we say so plainly, and can build one. Effort estimates are scoped from the advisory, not from your codebase.

dbcve · scoped
Upgrade available Upgrade to 0.16.4 / 0.17.3 / 0.18.2 or later
Fixed in 0.16.40.17.30.18.2
Interim mitigation

Upgrade Boundary Community Edition or Enterprise to version 0.16.4, 0.17.3, or 0.18.2 or later to remediate this vulnerability.

Recommended fix High confidence

Upgrade to Boundary 0.16.4, 0.17.3, or 0.18.2 depending on your current major/minor version branch

  1. 1. Identify your current Boundary version using `boundary --version` to determine which upgrade path applies
  2. 2. For versions 0.8.0 through 0.16.x: plan upgrade to version 0.16.4
  3. 3. For versions 0.17.0 through 0.17.x: plan upgrade to version 0.17.3
  4. 4. For versions 0.18.0 through 0.18.x: plan upgrade to version 0.18.2
  5. 5. Before upgrading, back up your Boundary database and configuration files
  6. 6. Stop the Boundary controller service
  7. 7. Install the appropriate fixed version (0.16.4, 0.17.3, or 0.18.2) using your system's package manager or by downloading from hashicorp.com
  8. 8. Verify the new version is installed with `boundary --version`
Caveat Standard Boundary upgrade considerations apply; review release notes for any configuration or behavior changes between your current version and the target fixed version

Generated from the published advisory — verify against the referenced sources before acting.

Fix this in Boundary Scoped from the published advisory
  • Consultation1.0 h
  • Implementation2.0 h
  • Testing2.0 h
  • Review / QA1.0 h
6.0 hours of engineering $1,040
Get the upgrade done

An estimate, not a bill — we confirm scope with you before any work starts. Need it this week? Rush from $1,664.

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References Go to the primary sourcePrimary sources — vendor advisories, patches and trackers. Where our summary and a reference disagree, the reference wins.

Primary sources

Practitioner notes

Contributed

Peer-ranked notes from engineers who’ve handled CVE-2024-12289 in production — separate from our analysis above.

No notes yet

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What this is

A place for practitioners to share what actually worked: a mitigation you’ve tested, a configuration change, a version- or environment-specific caveat, or a link to a verified patch. The most useful notes rise to the top as peers upvote them, so the signal stays high.

What belongs here
  • Verified mitigations, workarounds, and config changes
  • Version or environment caveats, and links to real fixes
  • No weaponised exploit code, or anything meant to cause harm
  • No spam, self-promotion, credentials, or personal data