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Incorrect Privilege AssignmentWeakness · CWE-266

CVE-2024-36587

HIGH · 7.8 CVSS v3.1 Published 2024-06-13
Mitigation only
No fix yet — a mitigation exists. There is no fixed release. A documented workaround reduces exposure in the meantime.
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
Insecure permissions in DNSCrypt-proxy v2.0.0alpha9 to v2.1.5 allows non-privileged attackers to escalate privileges to root via overwriting the binary dnscrypt-proxy.

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

DNSCrypt-proxy versions 2.0.0alpha9 through 2.1.5 have insecure file permissions on the binary, allowing any non-privileged user to overwrite the dnscrypt-proxy executable. Since the service runs with elevated privileges, a malicious user can replace the binary with a crafted payload and execute it to gain root-level access.

MitigationRestrict write permissions on the dnscrypt-proxy binary to root only (e.g., chmod 755 or chown root:root with appropriate permissions), and verify that the service runs with minimal required privileges.

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
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. Locate dnscrypt-proxy binary and get its version
    Run 'which dnscrypt-proxy' or 'find /usr -name dnscrypt-proxy 2>/dev/null' to find the binary, then run 'dnscrypt-proxy -version' to get the installed version number
    Affected if Version is 2.0.0alpha9 through 2.1.5 (inclusive)
  2. Check file ownership of the dnscrypt-proxy binary
    Run 'ls -la /path/to/dnscrypt-proxy' (use the path found in step 1) and note the owner and group in the first two columns
    Affected if Owner is not root or binary is owned by a privileged but non-root user without strict access controls
  3. Check write permissions for non-privileged users
    Run 'ls -la /path/to/dnscrypt-proxy' and examine the permission bits in the first column. Look for 'w' in positions 4-6 (group write) or 7-9 (other write)
    Affected if Any non-root user has write permission (any 'w' appears in the permission string for group or other)
  4. Verify if service runs with elevated privileges
    Check the service configuration: run 'systemctl status dnscrypt-proxy' or 'ps aux | grep dnscrypt-proxy' to see the user the process runs as
    Affected if Service runs as root or as a user with elevated privileges while the binary is writable by non-privileged users

You are affected if dnscrypt-proxy version is between 2.0.0alpha9 and 2.1.5 AND the binary is writable by non-root users while the service runs with elevated privileges.

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

Restrict write permissions on the dnscrypt-proxy binary to root only (e.g., chmod 755 or chown root:root with appropriate permissions), and verify that the service runs with minimal required privileges.

Recommended fix High confidence

Upgrade to dnscrypt-proxy v2.1.6 or later (the first version after the affected range v2.0.0alpha9 to v2.1.5)

  1. Identify the current installed version of dnscrypt-proxy using: which dnscrypt-proxy or dnscrypt-proxy --version
  2. Download the latest stable release of dnscrypt-proxy from the official GitHub repository (github.com/DNSCrypt/dnscrypt-proxy)
  3. Ensure the downloaded binary has correct permissions: chmod 755 dnscrypt-proxy and verify ownership is root:root
  4. Replace the existing binary at its installation path with the new version
  5. Restart the dnscrypt-proxy service if it's currently running
  6. Verify the new version is running: dnscrypt-proxy --version
Caveat Review release notes for any configuration changes between your current version and the new version

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

Have this fixed Scoped from the published advisory
  • Consultation2.0 h
  • Implementation2.0 h
  • Testing1.0 h
  • Review / QA1.0 h
6.0 hours of engineering $1,090
Get help mitigating

An estimate, not a bill — we confirm scope with you before any work starts. Need it this week? Rush from $1,744.

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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-2024-36587 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
  • Verified mitigations, workarounds, and config changes
  • Version or environment caveats, and links to real fixes
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