dbcve.org
Improper Access ControlWeakness · CWE-284

CVE-2024-34404

MEDIUM · 6.8 CVSS v3.1 Published 2024-05-03
Mitigation only
No fix yet — a mitigation exists. There is no fixed release. A documented workaround reduces exposure in the meantime.
See remediation →
74/100
Remediation priority · Elevated
Remotely reachable 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
A vulnerability was discovered in the Alta Recovery Vault feature of Veritas NetBackup before 10.4 and NetBackup Appliance before 5.4. By design, only the cloud administrator should be able to disable the retention lock of Governance mode images. This vulnerability allowed a NetBackup administrator to modify the expiration of backups under Governance mode (which could cause premature deletion).

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

The Alta Recovery Vault feature in Veritas NetBackup before 10.4 (and NetBackup Appliance before 5.4) has an improper access control vulnerability. The feature design intended that only cloud administrators could disable retention locks on Governance mode backup images, but the vulnerability allowed any NetBackup administrator to modify backup expiration dates, potentially causing premature data deletion.

MitigationUpgrade to NetBackup version 10.4 or later, or NetBackup Appliance version 5.4 or later, to obtain the patch that enforces proper role-based access control for Governance mode retention lock settings.

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
Network
Complexity
Low
Privileges
High
User interaction
None
Scope
Changed
Confidentiality
None
Integrity
High
Availability
None

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

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 NetBackup version
    Run 'nbversion -verbose' or check the NetBackup version through the administration console under Help > About NetBackup
    Affected if Version is below 10.4 (for NetBackup) or below 5.4 (for NetBackup Appliance)
  2. Check if Alta Recovery Vault is enabled
    In the NetBackup Administration Console, navigate to Cloud Storage > Alta Recovery Vault or run 'nbdevconfig -get AltaRecoveryVault' to verify the feature is configured
    Affected if Alta Recovery Vault feature is enabled and configured
  3. Check for Governance mode retention lock configuration
    Review backup image metadata or run 'bpimagelist -detail' looking for images with retention lock in Governance mode enabled, or check Cloud Storage policies for Governance mode settings
    Affected if Any backup images or policies have Governance mode retention lock configured
  4. Verify administrator role assignments
    Run 'nbemmcmd -listusers' or check the NetBackup User List in the administration console to identify all NetBackup administrators and their role assignments
    Affected if There are NetBackup administrators assigned the Administrator role who are NOT assigned the Cloud Administrator role

You are affected if your NetBackup version is below 10.4 (or Appliance below 5.4), Alta Recovery Vault with Governance mode is enabled, and you have administrators without Cloud Administrator role who could exploit the improper access control.

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
Mitigation available No clean upgrade yet — mitigate in the meantime
Mitigation

Upgrade to NetBackup version 10.4 or later, or NetBackup Appliance version 5.4 or later, to obtain the patch that enforces proper role-based access control for Governance mode retention lock settings.

Recommended fix Moderate confidence

NetBackup 10.4 or later / NetBackup Appliance 5.4 or later

  1. 1. Identify the current NetBackup version by running 'nbversion' command or checking the NetBackup Administration Console
  2. 2. Identify the current NetBackup Appliance version from the Appliance Web UI or CLI using 'version' command
  3. 3. For NetBackup: Schedule maintenance window and back up the NetBackup catalog and configuration
  4. 4. For NetBackup: Download NetBackup 10.4 or later from Veritas Support portal
  5. 5. For NetBackup: Run the upgrade installer following the standard upgrade procedure in the Veritas NetBackup Upgrade Guide
  6. 6. For NetBackup Appliance: Download NetBackup Appliance 5.4 or later from Veritas Support portal
  7. 7. For NetBackup Appliance: Initiate upgrade via the Appliance Web UI (Settings > Software > Upgrade) or via CLI using 'upgrade' command
  8. 8. After upgrade, verify the version is 10.4 or later for NetBackup, or 5.4 or later for Appliance
Caveat Standard upgrade precautions apply - review Veritas compatibility lists and test in non-production environment first

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

Have this fixed Scoped from the published advisory
  • Consultation4.0 h
  • Implementation8.0 h
  • Testing4.0 h
  • Review / QA2.0 h
18.0 hours of engineering $3,200
Get help mitigating

An estimate, not a bill — we confirm scope with you before any work starts. Need it this week? Rush from $5,120.

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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-2024-34404 in production — separate from our analysis above.

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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
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  • Version or environment caveats, and links to real fixes
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