#VU101665 Improper privilege management in ProFTPD - CVE-2024-48651

Vulnerability identifier: #VU101665

Vulnerability risk: High

CVSSv4.0: 7.5 [CVSS:4.0/AV:N/AC:L/AT:N/PR:L/UI:N/VC:H/VI:H/VA:N/SC:H/SI:H/SA:N/E:U/U:Amber]

CVE-ID: CVE-2024-48651

CWE-ID: CWE-269

Exploitation vector: Network

Exploit availability: No

Vulnerable software:
ProFTPD
Server applications / File servers (FTP/HTTP)

Vendor: ProFTPD

Description

The vulnerability allows a remote user to compromise the affected system.

The vulnerability exists due to improper privilege management when handling users without assigned supplementary groups. If the user has no groups assigned to their account, the server will assume the GID of 0 for this account. As a result, the user will gain access to files and directories owned by the system root user and will be able to modify them at will, leading to privilege escalation and system compromise.

Mitigation
Install update from vendor's website.

Vulnerable software versions

ProFTPD: 1.2.0 - 1.3.9 rc2

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External links
https://github.com/proftpd/proftpd/commit/cec01cc0a2523453e5da5a486bc6d977c3768db1
https://github.com/proftpd/proftpd/issues/1830

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Q & A

Can this vulnerability be exploited remotely?

Yes. This vulnerability can be exploited by a remote authenticated user via the Internet.

Is there known malware, which exploits this vulnerability?

No. We are not aware of malware exploiting this vulnerability.