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SlurmApplication · Schedmd

CVE-2024-48936

MEDIUM · 5.0 CVSS v3.1 Published 2024-10-28
Fix available
A fix is available. Upgrade to 24.05.4 or later.
See remediation →
56/100
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
SchedMD Slurm before 24.05.4 has Incorrect Authorization. A mistake in authentication handling in stepmgr could permit an attacker to execute processes under other users' jobs. This is limited to jobs explicitly running with --stepmgr, or on systems that have globally enabled stepmgr via SlurmctldParameters=enable_stepmgr in their configuration.

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 confidence

Slurm's stepmgr component has an authentication handling flaw that allows privilege escalation, enabling an attacker to execute processes under other users' job contexts. This only affects systems where stepmgr is explicitly enabled via --stepmgr flag or globally via SlurmctldParameters=enable_stepmgr.

MitigationUpgrade to Slurm 24.05.4 or later to receive the fix. Alternatively, if upgrading is not feasible, disable stepmgr by removing --stepmgr from job scripts and removing enable_stepmgr from slurmctld configuration.

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
SlurmApplication
Affected:< 24.05.4

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

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

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 if stepmgr is enabled globally in slurmctld
    Search the slurmctld configuration files (typically /etc/slurm/slurm.conf or /etc/slurm/slurmctld.conf) for the directive 'SlurmctldParameters=enable_stepmgr'
    Affected if The directive 'SlurmctldParameters=enable_stepmgr' is present in the configuration
  2. Check for stepmgr in job scripts
    Search job submission scripts and job definitions for the --stepmgr flag being passed to sbatch or srun commands
    Affected if Any job scripts contain the --stepmgr flag
  3. Identify installed Slurm version
    Run 'slurmctld -V' or 'scontrol version' to retrieve the installed Slurm version number
    Affected if The installed version is less than 24.05.4 (for example, 24.05.3, 24.05.0, 23.x.x, etc.)
  4. Verify stepmgr daemon is running
    Check running processes for slurmstepd or verify if stepmgr service is active using 'systemctl status slurmstepd' or 'ps aux | grep stepmgr'
    Affected if The slurmstepd daemon is actively running on the system

A system is affected only if both stepmgr is enabled (via --stepmgr flag or SlurmctldParameters=enable_stepmgr) AND the installed Slurm version is below 24.05.4.

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 24.05.4 or later
Fixed in 24.05.4
Interim mitigation

Upgrade to Slurm 24.05.4 or later to receive the fix. Alternatively, if upgrading is not feasible, disable stepmgr by removing --stepmgr from job scripts and removing enable_stepmgr from slurmctld configuration.

Recommended fix High confidence

24.05.4

  1. 1. Identify your current Slurm version by running `slurmctld -V` or checking the installed RPM/DEB package.
  2. 2. Determine if stepmgr is enabled on your system: grep for 'SlurmctldParameters=enable_stepmgr' in slurm.conf, or check if any jobs use the --stepmgr flag.
  3. 3. Review the Slurm 24.05.4 release notes at www.schedmd.com for any configuration changes or migration requirements relevant to your setup.
  4. 4. Create a backup of your current Slurm configuration files (slurm.conf, cgroup.conf, etc.) and database if using slurmdbd.
  5. 5. Upgrade Slurm packages to version 24.05.4 using your distribution's package manager (e.g., `apt-get upgrade` or `yum update` for RHEL-based systems).
  6. 6. After upgrading, restart Slurm services in the correct order: first slurmctld, then slurmd on all compute nodes.
  7. 7. Verify the upgrade was successful by running `slurmctld -V` to confirm version 24.05.4.
  8. 8. If you had jobs using --stepmgr or had enable_stepmgr configured, verify stepmgr functionality works correctly with a test job.
Caveat Check Slurm 24.05.x release notes for any configuration syntax changes or deprecated features before upgrading production systems

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

Fix this in Slurm Scoped from the published advisory
  • Consultation2.0 h
  • Implementation3.0 h
  • Testing2.0 h
  • Review / QA1.0 h
8.0 hours of engineering $1,420
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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-2024-48936 in production — separate from our analysis above.

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What this is

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What belongs here
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  • Version or environment caveats, and links to real fixes
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