Insufficiently Protected CredentialsWeakness · CWE-522

CVE-2024-23551

MEDIUM · 6.5 CVSS v3.1 Published 2024-05-07
Mitigation only
No fix yet — a mitigation exists. There is no fixed release. A documented workaround reduces exposure in the meantime.
See remediation →
65/100
Remediation priority · Elevated

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
Database scanning using username and password stores the credentials in plaintext or encoded format within files at the endpoint. This has been identified as a significant security risk. This will lead to exposure of sensitive information for unauthorized access, potentially leading to severe consequences such as data breaches, unauthorized data manipulation, and compromised system integrity.

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

Database scanning functionality stores user credentials in plaintext or encoded format within files on the endpoint system. This improper credential storage leads to exposure of sensitive authentication information that could be retrieved by unauthorized parties.

MitigationReplace plaintext/encoded credential storage with secure credential management such as encrypted credential stores, secrets management solutions, or environment variables with proper encryption at rest.

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

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
Local
Complexity
Low
Privileges
High
User interaction
Required
Scope
Unchanged
Confidentiality
High
Integrity
High
Availability
High

CVSS:3.1/AV:L/AC:L/PR:H/UI:R/S:U/C:H/I:H/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. Identify database scanning tools installed
    Check for database scanning utilities or modules on the system. Look for common database scanning tools in common installation directories (e.g., /usr/local/bin, /opt, or via package managers like pip, npm). Run 'which' or 'where' commands for known database scanning tools.
    Affected if Database scanning functionality is present on the system
  2. Locate configuration and cache files
    Search the application data directories for configuration files, cache directories, and temporary files created by database scanning tools. Look in user home directories, /tmp, /var/tmp, and application-specific data folders for files with extensions like .conf, .cfg, .ini, .json, .xml, .log, .cache, or .cred.
    Affected if Configuration, cache, or log files exist from database scanning operations
  3. Examine stored credentials
    Open and inspect the identified configuration, cache, or credential files. Check for fields containing usernames, passwords, API keys, tokens, or connection strings. Determine if the values appear as plaintext strings or are simply encoded (e.g., base64) without encryption.
    Affected if Credentials are stored in plaintext or encoded (but not encrypted) format within any file
  4. Verify credential storage location
    Document the exact file paths where credentials were found. Common locations include config files in the tool's root directory, hidden folders in user home directories, or temporary directories used during scanning operations.
    Affected if Credentials are found stored in local files on the endpoint system

If database scanning tools are installed and credentials are stored in plaintext or encoded format in local files, the environment is affected by this vulnerability.

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.

From vendor data
Mitigation available No clean upgrade yet — mitigate in the meantime
Mitigation

Replace plaintext/encoded credential storage with secure credential management such as encrypted credential stores, secrets management solutions, or environment variables with proper encryption at rest.

Have this fixed Scoped from the published advisory
  • Consultation6.0 h
  • Implementation12.0 h
  • Testing6.0 h
  • Review / QA4.0 h
28.0 hours of engineering $4,980
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Scan for this in your stack

Free · runs locally
dbcve dependency scanner

Check whether your project pulls in CVE-2024-23551 — or any other known-vulnerable package — straight from your lock files. Free and open source; it runs locally and uploads nothing.

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-2024-23551 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