CVE-2024-38492
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 · uneditedThis vulnerability allows an unauthenticated attacker to achieve remote command execution on the affected PAM system by uploading a specially crafted PAM upgrade file.
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 confidenceThis is a critical vulnerability in a PAM (Pluggable Authentication Modules) system that allows an unauthenticated attacker to achieve remote command execution by uploading a specially crafted malicious PAM upgrade file. The vulnerability resides in the upgrade file upload/parsing mechanism.
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
- Adjacent
- Complexity
- Low
- Privileges
- None
- Authentication
- X
- User interaction
- None
- Scope
- X
CVSS:4.0/AV:A/AC:L/AT:N/PR:N/UI:N/VC:H/VI:H/VA:H/SC:H/SI:H/SA:H/E:X/CR:X/IR:X/AR:X/MAV:X/MAC:X/MAT:X/MPR:X/MUI:X/MVC:X/MVI:X/MVA:X/MSC:X/MSI:X/MSA:X/S:X/AU:X/R:X/V:X/RE:X/U:X
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 checksWork through these to decide whether this CVE applies to you.
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Identify PAM upgrade functionality presenceLocate PAM configuration files and binaries related to upgrade functionality. Look for files named 'pam_upgrade', 'pam-config', or similar in /usr/lib/security/, /lib/security/, /etc/pam.d/, or application-specific directories. Also check for any PAM-related update/upgrade binaries or scripts in the system.Affected if PAM upgrade functionality exists and is exposed (the upgrade mechanism must be present for the vulnerability to apply)
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Verify upgrade endpoint accessibilityCheck if the PAM upgrade upload/parsing mechanism is network-accessible or exposed via any service. Review service configurations, firewall rules, and authentication settings for any interface that handles PAM upgrades.Affected if The PAM upgrade interface is accessible without strong authentication or from the network (unauthenticated access vector)
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Inspect PAM upgrade file directoryExamine directories where PAM upgrade files are stored or uploaded (common locations: /var/lib/pam, /tmp, application upload directories, or custom paths). List all .pam, .so, or upgrade-related files and note their origins, timestamps, and owners.Affected if Unexpected or unauthorized PAM upgrade files are present, especially with recent timestamps or from unexpected sources
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Review authentication and access logsSearch system logs (/var/log/auth.log, /var/log/secure, application logs) for authentication events related to PAM upgrade functionality. Look for failed authentication attempts, anonymous access, or unusual upgrade-related API calls.
Your environment is affected if PAM upgrade functionality is present, exposed, and accessible without proper authentication controls.
Generated from the published advisory. Verify against your own configuration.
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 dataImmediately restrict or disable the PAM upgrade functionality until a patch is available, implement strict authentication and authorization for upgrade uploads, and add file signature validation for PAM upgrade files.
- Consultation8.0 h
- Implementation16.0 h
- Testing8.0 h
- Review / QA4.0 h
An estimate, not a bill — we confirm scope with you before any work starts. Need it this week? Rush from $10,240.
Scan for this in your stack
Free · runs locallyCheck whether your project pulls in CVE-2024-38492 — 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 sourcesPractitioner notes
ContributedPeer-ranked notes from engineers who’ve handled CVE-2024-38492 in production — separate from our analysis above.
The advisory tells you what broke. It rarely tells you what actually worked. If you’ve dealt with this one, that detail is what the next engineer is searching for.
- The version that genuinely resolved it — not the one the vendor claimed
- A config change or rule that shut the vector down
- A gotcha in the upgrade path that cost you an afternoon
No notes yet
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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.
- 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