CVE-2024-51448
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 · uneditedIBM Robotic Process Automation 21.0.0 through 21.0.7.17 and 23.0.0 through 23.0.18 could allow a local user to escalate their privileges. All files in the install inherit the file permissions of the parent directory and therefore a non-privileged user can substitute any executable for the nssm.exe service. A subsequent service or server restart will then run that binary with administrator privilege.
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 confidenceIBM RPA installations (21.0.0-21.0.7.17 and 23.0.0-23.0.18) have overly permissive file permissions where all files inherit the parent directory's access controls. A non-privileged local user can replace the nssm.exe service executable with a malicious binary, which will execute with administrator privileges upon service or server restart.
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>= 21.0.0, <= 21.0.7.17>= 23.0.0, <= 23.0.18CVSS 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
- High
- User interaction
- None
- Scope
- Unchanged
- Confidentiality
- High
- Integrity
- High
- Availability
- High
CVSS:3.1/AV:L/AC:L/PR:H/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 IBM RPA installation and versionCheck the Windows registry for IBM RPA installation: Open regedit and navigate to HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\IBM\Robotic Process Automation, or run 'Get-ItemProperty HKLM:\SOFTWARE\IBM\Robotic Process Automation' in PowerShell to retrieve the InstallPath and Version valuesAffected if Version falls within 21.0.0-21.0.7.17 or 23.0.0-23.0.18
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Locate nssm.exe service executableUsing the InstallPath from the registry, navigate to that directory and locate nssm.exe. Default path is typically C:\Program Files\IBM\RPA\nssm.exe or similar within the IBM RPA installation folderAffected if nssm.exe exists in the IBM RPA installation directory
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Review file permissions on nssm.exeRight-click nssm.exe, select Properties, then Security tab. Click Advanced to view effective permissions. Check which users or groups have Write or Modify permissions on this fileAffected if Users without administrator privileges (such as standard users) are granted Write or Modify permissions on nssm.exe
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Test write access to executableAs a non-privileged local user account, attempt to create a test file or modify nssm.exe in the installation directory. Use 'icacls "<path>\nssm.exe"' command to enumerate actual access rightsAffected if A standard (non-admin) user can successfully write or replace the nssm.exe file
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Verify parent directory permissions cascade to filesRun 'icacls "<installation_directory>"' to examine the ACL inheritance settings. Check if the directory has permissions that allow Modify access for Users or authenticated users groupsAffected if The parent directory grants Modify or Write permissions that inherit to nssm.exe for non-privileged accounts
A user is affected if IBM RPA versions 21.0.0-21.0.7.17 or 23.0.0-23.0.18 are installed and non-privileged users have write access to the nssm.exe service executable in the installation directory.
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 file permissions on the IBM RPA installation directory to prevent non-privileged users from modifying or replacing executable files. Verify service binary locations and implement least-privilege access controls.
- Consultation3.0 h
- Implementation4.0 h
- Testing2.0 h
- Review / QA1.0 h
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Scan for this in your stack
Free · runs locallyCheck whether your project pulls in CVE-2024-51448 — 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-2024-51448 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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