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Improper Input ValidationWeakness · CWE-20

CVE-2024-49361

HIGH · 8.1 CVSS v4.0 Published 2024-10-18
Mitigation only
No fix yet — a mitigation exists. There is no fixed release. A documented workaround reduces exposure in the meantime.
See remediation →
90/100
Remediation priority · Urgent
Remotely reachable No privileges 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
ACON is a widely-used library of tools for machine learning that focuses on adaptive correlation optimization. A potential vulnerability has been identified in the input validation process, which could lead to arbitrary code execution if exploited. This issue could allow an attacker to submit malicious input data, bypassing input validation, resulting in remote code execution in certain machine learning applications using the ACON library. All users utilizing ACON’s input-handling functions are potentially at risk. Specifically, machine learning models or applications that ingest user-generated data without proper sanitization are the most vulnerable. Users running ACON on production servers are at heightened risk, as the vulnerability could be exploited remotely. As of time of publication, it is unclear whether a fix is available.

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

The ACON machine learning library contains an input validation bypass vulnerability that allows malicious input data to circumvent sanitization checks, potentially leading to arbitrary remote code execution. Attackers can exploit this by submitting specially crafted input to ACON's input-handling functions in applications that process user-generated data. This is a classic input validation failure enabling RCE in ML contexts.

MitigationImplement rigorous input validation and sanitization for all data ingested by ACON library functions, especially user-provided data. Until an official patch is available, consider network segmentation and restricting ACON's execution environment to limit blast radius.

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
None
Authentication
X
User interaction
None
Scope
X

CVSS:4.0/AV:N/AC:L/AT:N/PR:N/UI:N/VC:H/VI:H/VA:H/SC:N/SI:N/SA:N/E:U/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 checks

Work through these to decide whether this CVE applies to you.

  1. Identify if ACON library is present
    Search for ACON installation in your environment using package managers (pip list, npm ls, or similar), or search for files named 'acon', 'ACON', or containing 'acon' in relevant directories like node_modules, site-packages, or project dependencies.
    Affected if The ACON library is found installed in your environment.
  2. Determine installed ACON version
    Run the appropriate version command for your package manager (for Python: 'pip show acon' or 'python -c "import acon; print(acon.__version__)"', for Node.js: 'npm list acon'). Compare the version number to any official ACON release notes or security advisories.
    Affected if The installed version is older than the patched version or falls within an affected version range.
  3. Verify application uses ACON input-handling functions
    Search your codebase for calls to ACON functions that process input data, especially functions that accept user-generated or external data. Look for patterns like 'acon.predict()', 'acon.process()', 'acon.transform()', or similar ML processing functions.
    Affected if Your application processes user-generated or external data through ACON's input-handling functions.
  4. Inspect input validation configuration
    Review your application's code and configuration files to identify any input validation, sanitization, or filtering applied to data before passing it to ACON functions. Check for validation libraries, schema validators, or custom sanitization logic.
    Affected if No input validation or sanitization is implemented, or validation can be bypassed by specially crafted input.
  5. Check network exposure of ACON processing endpoints
    Identify any API endpoints or services that accept external input and pass it to ACON functions. Review your web application firewall (WAF), API gateway, or network filtering rules protecting these endpoints.
    Affected if ACON processes input from unauthenticated or publicly accessible endpoints without strict input validation.

Your environment is affected if you have ACON installed, process user-generated data through its input-handling functions, and lack robust input validation that cannot be bypassed by specially crafted malicious input.

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.

From vendor data
Mitigation available No clean upgrade yet — mitigate in the meantime
Mitigation

Implement rigorous input validation and sanitization for all data ingested by ACON library functions, especially user-provided data. Until an official patch is available, consider network segmentation and restricting ACON's execution environment to limit blast radius.

Have this fixed Scoped from the published advisory
  • Consultation8.0 h
  • Implementation16.0 h
  • Testing12.0 h
  • Review / QA8.0 h
44.0 hours of engineering $7,720
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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-2024-49361 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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