CVE-2024-28189
Raw vector
CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:L/PR:N/UI:N/S:C/C:H/I:H/A:HSummary
CVE-2024-28189 is a critical-severity Link Following (CWE-59) vulnerability. Its CVSS base score is 10.0 (Critical).
Operationally, exploitation aligns with the MITRE ATT&CK technique Path Interception (T1034); ranked in the top 6% of CVEs by exploit likelihood; it is not currently listed in the CISA KEV catalog.
The strongest mitigations our analysis identified map to AC-3 (Access Enforcement) and AC-4 (Information Flow Enforcement) — see the control section below for these in your framework.
Deeper analysis AI-assisted summary
Synthesised by an AI model from the NVD description and linked references — a reading aid, not an authoritative source.
Judge0 is an open-source online code execution system that runs untrusted code inside an isolated sandbox. The vulnerability exists in the isolate_job component, which invokes the UNIX chown command directly on a file path supplied by user code without first resolving or validating symbolic links. This allows an attacker to supply a symlink that points outside the sandbox, causing chown to operate on arbitrary files on the host filesystem. The issue is tracked as CWE-59 and CWE-61 and was assigned a CVSS score of 10.0.
An unauthenticated remote attacker who can submit code to a Judge0 instance can create the malicious symlink and thereby change ownership of files outside the sandbox. Although the flaw has limited direct impact, it can be chained with the earlier CVE-2024-28185 to fully escape the sandbox and obtain arbitrary code execution on the host. Exploitation requires no special privileges or user interaction.
The vulnerability is fixed in Judge0 version 1.13.1. The project’s security advisories GHSA-3xpw-36v7-2cmg and GHSA-h9g2-45c8-89cf, along with the corresponding commit, describe the symlink-handling flaw and confirm that the chown operation was updated to prevent traversal outside the sandbox. The EPSS score has remained at 0.5758 with no material increase since disclosure.
OWASP Top 10 for Web (2025)
EU & UK References
- 🇪🇺 ENISA EUVD: EUVD-2024-25312
Vulnerability Data
Judge0 is an open-source online code execution system. The application uses the UNIX chown command on an untrusted file within the sandbox. An attacker can abuse this by creating a symbolic link (symlink) to a file outside the sandbox, allowing…
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the attacker to run chown on arbitrary files outside of the sandbox. This vulnerability is not impactful on it's own, but it can be used to bypass the patch for CVE-2024-28185 and obtain a complete sandbox escape. This vulnerability is fixed in 1.13.1.
- CWE(s)
Related Threats
MITRE ATT&CK Enterprise Techniques
CVEs Like This One
Affected Assets
Mitigating Controls
Control response
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- 2 hardening rules · 2 OS baselines
V15.4.2V5.2.5
Mitigating Controls (NIST 800-53 r5) AI
Proper enforcement of access authorizations on the resolved target resource stops a link from reaching an unintended object.
Information-flow enforcement on file operations must follow the resolved target rather than the link name, blocking unauthorized data movement via symlinks.
Least-privilege limits the damage an attacker can cause after following an unintended link.
Validating file-name inputs can reject or canonicalize names that resolve to links before access occurs.
Mitigating Controls (NIST CSF 2.0) AI
Derived directly from the weakness types (CWEs) cited in the NVD entry via our AI-authored CWE→CSF cross-walk (authority under review) — links open the control.
Secure SDLC practices directly require code to validate paths and avoid unsafe link following.
Vulnerability identification can discover existing symlink issues but does not prevent or remediate them in code.
Least-privilege access policies can limit damage from symlink attacks but do not address the coding flaw itself.
Mitigating Controls (ISO/IEC 27001:2022 Annex A) AI
Derived directly from the weakness types (CWEs) cited in the NVD entry via our AI-authored CWE→ISO cross-walk (authority under review) — links open the control.
Security testing can detect link-following flaws before release.
Secure SDLC practices can mandate link-resolution checks and canonicalization before file access.
Application security requirements can explicitly require safe handling of symbolic links and path traversal.
Secure architecture principles include input validation and safe file-access design patterns.
Secure coding standards directly address canonicalization and symlink attacks during implementation.
Access-control rules can restrict which files a process may open, reducing symlink-following risk but not eliminating the underlying path-resolution flaw.
Hardening callouts derived
Configuration rules from DISA STIG baselines that bear on weaknesses of the type cited by this CVE. Each rule is shown with the relationship its mapping actually records, against the CWE it was authored against. Derived via CVE→CWE over `controls_xwalks` (authoritative rows only; rows rated `none` are excluded).
Oracle Linux 8 (1 rule)
- V-248577 OL 8 must enable kernel parameters to enforce Discretionary Access Control (DAC) on symlinks. prevents CWE-61