CVE-2024-4163
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 · uneditedThe Skylab IGX IIoT Gateway allowed users to connect to it via a limited shell terminal (IGX). However, it was discovered that the process was running under root privileges. This allowed the attacker to read, write, and modify any file in the operating system by utilizing the limited shell file exec and download functions. By replacing the /etc/passwd file with a new root user entry, the attacker was able to breakout from the limited shell and login to a unrestricted shell with root access. With the root access, the attacker will be able take full control of the IIoT Gateway.
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 confidenceThe Skylab IGX IIoT Gateway provides a limited shell terminal (IGX) that runs with root privileges. An attacker with access to this limited shell can use built-in file exec and download functions to read, write, or modify any file on the OS, including replacing /etc/passwd with a custom root user entry to escape the restricted shell and gain full root access.
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
- Low
- User interaction
- None
- Scope
- Unchanged
- Confidentiality
- High
- Integrity
- High
- Availability
- High
CVSS:3.1/AV:A/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 checksWork through these to decide whether this CVE applies to you.
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Identify the Skylab IGX IIoT GatewayCheck the system model, firmware version, or boot logs for 'IGX' or 'Skylab' branding. Review network documentation for IIoT gateway devices.Affected if The device is a Skylab IGX IIoT Gateway
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Verify IGX shell terminal accessibilityDetermine if the IGX shell terminal is exposed to the network or accessible via console/SSH. Review access controls, firewall rules, and authentication for port 22 or the IGX terminal service.Affected if The IGX shell terminal is accessible without proper network restrictions or on an unsecured network segment
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Confirm root privileges in IGX shellLog into the IGX shell (if authorized) and run 'whoami' or 'id' commands to check if the shell executes with root (uid 0) privileges.Affected if The IGX shell executes commands with root user privileges
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Check for file exec and download functionsWithin the IGX shell, identify available commands for file execution or downloads (such as curl, wget, tftp, or similar built-in utilities). Review shell help menus or command documentation.Affected if File exec or download functions are present and accessible in the IGX shell
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Test write access to /etc/passwdAttempt to read or verify write access to /etc/passwd from within the IGX shell using commands like 'ls -la /etc/passwd' or a read operation, if authorized for detection purposes.Affected if The IGX shell has sufficient privileges to read or modify /etc/passwd, allowing potential restricted shell escape
A user is affected if they operate a Skylab IGX IIoT Gateway where the IGX shell terminal is accessible and runs with root privileges, enabling file manipulation that could lead to full system compromise.
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 dataRestrict network access to the IGX shell terminal; implement network segmentation for the IIoT gateway; monitor for unauthorized access attempts; contact vendor for firmware patch that runs shell with non-root privileges.
- Consultation8.0 h
- Implementation16.0 h
- Testing8.0 h
- Review / QA4.0 h
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Scan for this in your stack
Free · runs locallyCheck whether your project pulls in CVE-2024-4163 — 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-2024-4163 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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- 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
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