Incorrect Default PermissionsWeakness · CWE-276

CVE-2024-52867

HIGH · 8.1 CVSS v3.1 Published 2024-11-17
Mitigation only
No fix yet — a mitigation exists. There is no fixed release. A documented workaround reduces exposure in the meantime.
See remediation →
86/100
Remediation priority · High
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
guix-daemon in GNU Guix before 5ab3c4c allows privilege escalation because build outputs are accessible by local users before file metadata concerns (e.g., for setuid and setgid programs) are properly addressed. The vulnerability can be remediated within the product via certain pull, reconfigure, and restart actions. Both 5ab3c4c and 5582241 are needed to resolve the vulnerability.

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 confidence

The guix-daemon in GNU Guix allows local users to access build outputs before proper file metadata (setuid and setgid programs) is applied, creating a race condition that enables privilege escalation. Both commits 5ab3c4c and 5582241 are required to fully resolve the vulnerability.

MitigationApply the fixes from commits 5ab3c4c and 5582241, then execute the guix-daemon pull, reconfigure, and restart sequence to remediate the vulnerability.

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
Local
Complexity
High
Privileges
None
User interaction
None
Scope
Changed
Confidentiality
High
Integrity
High
Availability
High

CVSS:3.1/AV:L/AC:H/PR:N/UI:N/S:C/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 checks

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

  1. Verify guix-daemon is running
    Run `ps aux | grep guix-daemon` or check systemd units with `systemctl status guix-daemon`
    Affected if guix-daemon is running and the version is prior to the fixed commits 5ab3c4c and 5582241
  2. Identify installed Guix version
    Run `guix --version` to retrieve the version string, or check `/run/current-system/profile/bin/guix --version` for system-installed versions
    Affected if Version is older than the release containing commits 5ab3c4c and 5582241 (the race condition is present)
  3. Check build directory permissions and timestamps
    Inspect a recent build directory under /var/cache/guix or /gnu/store for world-readable permissions on build outputs that may still have pending setuid/setgid metadata application
    Affected if Build directories are accessible to local users before file metadata is finalized, indicating the race window is present
  4. Verify if daemon has untrusted user builds enabled
    Check guix-daemon configuration in /etc or systemd service file for `--discover` or user build subdirectories, and review `/etc/guix/signing-key.pub` for ACLs
    Affected if The daemon accepts builds from untrusted users and the race condition allows access to privileged build outputs

You are affected if guix-daemon is running with a version predating the fix commits and accepts untrusted user builds, allowing local users to access build outputs during the metadata race window.

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

Apply the fixes from commits 5ab3c4c and 5582241, then execute the guix-daemon pull, reconfigure, and restart sequence to remediate the vulnerability.

Have this fixed Scoped from the published advisory
  • Consultation2.0 h
  • Implementation2.0 h
  • Testing1.0 h
  • Review / QA1.0 h
6.0 hours of engineering $1,090
Get help mitigating

An estimate, not a bill — we confirm scope with you before any work starts. Need it this week? Rush from $1,744.

Scan for this in your stack

Free · runs locally
dbcve dependency scanner

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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-2024-52867 in production — separate from our analysis above.

No notes yet

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What this is

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.

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