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IApplication · Ibm

CVE-2024-31890

HIGH · 7.8 CVSS v3.1 Published 2024-06-21
Fix available
A fix is available. Upgrade to after 7.5 or later.
See remediation →
80/100
Remediation priority · High
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
IBM i 7.3, 7.4, and 7.5 product IBM TCP/IP Connectivity Utilities for i contains a local privilege escalation vulnerability. A malicious actor with command line access to the host operating system can elevate privileges to gain root access to the host operating system. IBM X-Force ID: 288171.

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 · high confidence

Local privilege escalation vulnerability in IBM TCP/IP Connectivity Utilities for i allows an attacker with command-line access to elevate from their current privileges to root on IBM i versions 7.3, 7.4, and 7.5.

MitigationApply IBM i patches for the TCP/IP Connectivity Utilities once released by IBM. Until patch availability, limit command-line access to trusted personnel only and monitor for suspicious privilege escalation attempts.

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
IApplication
Affected:>= 7.3, <= 7.5

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
Low
User interaction
None
Scope
Unchanged
Confidentiality
High
Integrity
High
Availability
High

CVSS:3.1/AV:L/AC:L/PR:L/UI:N/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. Verify IBM i operating system version
    Run command: DSPSYSVAL QSRVREL or WRKSYSVAL QSRVREL to display the system release level
    Affected if System is running version 7.3, 7.4, or 7.5 within the listed range
  2. Confirm TCP/IP Connectivity Utilities product presence
    Use WRKPRD command and look for product 5722TC1 (TCP/IP Connectivity Utilities) in the installed products list
    Affected if TCP/IP Connectivity Utilities (5722TC1) is installed on the system
  3. Check for command-line access availability
    Review user profiles with limited special authorities using WRKUSRPRF *USRPRF and examine which users have command execution capabilities
    Affected if Multiple user profiles exist with command-line (CL) access capabilities beyond trusted administrators
  4. Audit user profile special authorities
    Run WRKUSRPRF *ALL and review the SPCAUT (special authority) column for non-administrative users, particularly looking for users with *ALLOBJ or *SECADM authority that should not have it
    Affected if Non-administrator user profiles have elevated special authorities they should not possess, indicating potential privilege escalation abuse
  5. Review job logs for suspicious command execution
    Use WRKJOB *ALL and examine job logs for commands from TCP/IP Connectivity Utilities executed by non-privileged users
    Affected if Job logs show TCP/IP Connectivity Utilities commands executed by users without appropriate privileges

System is affected if running IBM i 7.3-7.5 AND has TCP/IP Connectivity Utilities installed AND has command-line access available to non-administrative users.

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 a release after 7.5
Interim mitigation

Apply IBM i patches for the TCP/IP Connectivity Utilities once released by IBM. Until patch availability, limit command-line access to trusted personnel only and monitor for suspicious privilege escalation attempts.

Recommended fix Moderate confidence

IBM i 7.6 or later (or apply IBM i Security Patch for CVE-2024-31890)

  1. 1. Identify the current IBM i version by running WRKCFG *ver or DSPSFWRSC on the system
  2. 2. Contact IBM support or access IBM i Fix Central (https://www.ibm.com/support/fixcentral/) to obtain the latest security updates
  3. 3. Request and apply the security patch for CVE-2024-31890 specific to IBM TCP/IP Connectivity Utilities for i
  4. 4. Alternatively, plan for an upgrade to IBM i 7.6 or later if available, as this vulnerability affects 7.3, 7.4, and 7.5
  5. 5. After applying the patch or upgrade, verify the fix by checking the installed version of TCP/IP Connectivity Utilities for i using GO CMDTCP/option 1 or similar
  6. 6. Restart affected TCP/IP services if required by the patch installation process
  7. 7. Validate that the privilege escalation vulnerability is resolved by confirming the TCP/IP Connectivity Utilities no longer run with unnecessary root privileges
Caveat Upgrading IBM i may require application compatibility testing; patch deployment should be tested in non-production first

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

Fix this in I Scoped from the published advisory
  • Consultation3.0 h
  • Implementation6.0 h
  • Testing3.0 h
  • Review / QA2.0 h
14.0 hours of engineering $2,490
Get the upgrade done

An estimate, not a bill — we confirm scope with you before any work starts. Need it this week? Rush from $3,984.

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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-2024-31890 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