CVE-2024-21488
📋 TL;DR
CVE-2024-21488 is a command injection vulnerability in the network npm package that allows attackers to execute arbitrary operating system commands. This affects applications using vulnerable versions of the network package where user input reaches the mac_address_for function. The vulnerability stems from improper input sanitization in child_process exec calls.
💻 Affected Systems
- network npm package
📦 What is this software?
Network by Forkhq
⚠️ Risk & Real-World Impact
Worst Case
Complete system compromise allowing attacker to execute any command with the privileges of the running process, potentially leading to data theft, ransomware deployment, or persistent backdoor installation.
Likely Case
Limited command execution within the application's context, potentially allowing file system access, network reconnaissance, or privilege escalation if the process runs with elevated permissions.
If Mitigated
No impact if input validation prevents malicious payloads from reaching the vulnerable function or if the package is updated to version 0.7.0+.
🎯 Exploit Status
The vulnerability is straightforward to exploit with publicly available technical details. No authentication is required if the vulnerable function accepts external input.
🛠️ Fix & Mitigation
✅ Official Fix
Patch Version: 0.7.0
Vendor Advisory: https://github.com/tomas/network/commit/5599ed6d6ff1571a5ccadea775430c131f381de7
Restart Required: Yes
Instructions:
1. Update package.json to specify 'network': '^0.7.0'. 2. Run 'npm update network' or 'npm install network@0.7.0'. 3. Restart the application to load the updated package.
🔧 Temporary Workarounds
Input validation and sanitization
allImplement strict input validation to prevent shell metacharacters from reaching the mac_address_for function
// JavaScript example: const sanitizedInput = userInput.replace(/[;&|$`\n]/g, '')
Use execFile instead of exec
allModify the package locally to use child_process.execFile with proper argument handling
// Replace exec() with execFile() and pass arguments as array
🧯 If You Can't Patch
- Implement strict input validation and sanitization for all user inputs passed to network package functions
- Run the application with minimal privileges and in a containerized/sandboxed environment
🔍 How to Verify
Check if Vulnerable:
Check package.json for network dependency version below 0.7.0 or run 'npm list network' to see installed versionCheck Version:
npm list network | grep networkVerify Fix Applied:
Confirm network package version is 0.7.0 or higher using 'npm list network'📡 Detection & Monitoring
Log Indicators:
- Unusual child process executions from Node.js application
- Suspicious command strings in application logs
- Unexpected network connections from the application
Network Indicators:
- Outbound connections to unexpected destinations from the application server
- Command and control traffic patterns
SIEM Query:
process.name: 'node' AND process.cmdline: '*network*' AND (process.cmdline: '*exec*' OR process.cmdline: '*sh*' OR process.cmdline: '*bash*')🔗 References
- https://gist.github.com/icemonster/282ab98fb68fc22aac7c576538f6369c
- https://github.com/tomas/network/commit/5599ed6d6ff1571a5ccadea775430c131f381de7
- https://github.com/tomas/network/commit/6ec8713580938ab4666df2f2d0f3399891ed2ad7
- https://github.com/tomas/network/commit/72c523265940fe279eb0050d441522628f8988e5
- https://security.snyk.io/vuln/SNYK-JS-NETWORK-6184371
- https://gist.github.com/icemonster/282ab98fb68fc22aac7c576538f6369c
- https://github.com/tomas/network/commit/5599ed6d6ff1571a5ccadea775430c131f381de7
- https://github.com/tomas/network/commit/6ec8713580938ab4666df2f2d0f3399891ed2ad7
- https://github.com/tomas/network/commit/72c523265940fe279eb0050d441522628f8988e5
- https://security.snyk.io/vuln/SNYK-JS-NETWORK-6184371
