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Stack-based Buffer OverflowWeakness · CWE-121

CVE-2024-5602

HIGH · 7.8 CVSS v3.1 Published 2024-07-23
Mitigation only
No fix yet — a mitigation exists. There is no fixed release. A documented workaround reduces exposure in the meantime.
See remediation →
81/100
Remediation priority · High
No privileges

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
A stack-based buffer overflow vulnerability due to a missing bounds check in the NI I/O Trace Tool may result in arbitrary code execution. Successful exploitation requires an attacker to provide a user with a specially crafted nitrace file. The NI I/O Trace tool is installed as part of the NI System Configuration utilities included with many NI software products.  Refer to the NI Security Advisory for identifying the version of NI IO Trace.exe installed. The NI I/O Trace tool was also previously released as NI Spy.

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

A stack-based buffer overflow vulnerability in the NI I/O Trace Tool (formerly NI Spy) allows arbitrary code execution via specially crafted nitrace files. The vulnerability stems from a missing bounds check during file parsing in the NI System Configuration utilities.

MitigationUpdate NI System Configuration to the latest patched version. Users should avoid opening nitrace files from untrusted sources.

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

CVSS:3.1/AV:L/AC:L/PR:N/UI:R/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 checks

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

  1. Verify NI System Configuration is installed
    Check for NI System Configuration software in Windows Programs and Features, or search for 'nisyscfg' in the Program Files directory (typically C:\Program Files\National Instruments\NI System Configuration).
    Affected if The software is present on the system.
  2. Determine the installed NI System Configuration version
    Right-click the installed software in Programs and Features and select 'Properties' to view the version, or check the version of nisyscfg.exe in the installation directory.
    Affected if The installed version falls within the affected version range (compare to vendor advisories for CVE-2024-5602).
  3. Confirm NI I/O Trace Tool (NI Spy) feature is present
    Look for 'NI I/O Trace' or 'NI Spy' in the NI Program Group (Start Menu > National Instruments), or search for 'nitrace.exe' or 'nispy.exe' on the system.
    Affected if The NI I/O Trace or NI Spy executable exists on the system.
  4. Check for nitrace file associations
    Search for .nitrace files on the system and verify if they are associated with NI System Configuration tools. Inspect the file type association in Windows Registry under HKEY_CLASSES_ROOT for .nitrace extension.
    Affected if The system has .nitrace file associations pointing to NI software, indicating the vulnerable parsing code could be invoked.
  5. Inspect for crash logs from nitrace file parsing
    Check Windows Event Viewer (Application and System logs) and NI-specific log directories (typically in Documents and Settings\All Users\Documents\National Instruments\Logs) for crashes or errors related to NI I/O Trace or nitrace file processing.
    Affected if Recent crash logs mention nitrace parsing or NI I/O Trace Tool failures, which may indicate exploitation attempts.

A system is affected if NI System Configuration is installed with a vulnerable version that includes NI I/O Trace Tool and the nitrace file parsing feature is present and accessible.

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

Update NI System Configuration to the latest patched version. Users should avoid opening nitrace files from untrusted sources.

Have this fixed Scoped from the published advisory
  • Consultation3.0 h
  • Implementation3.0 h
  • Testing4.0 h
  • Review / QA2.0 h
12.0 hours of engineering $2,100
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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-2024-5602 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
  • 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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