Cyber Resilience

CVE-2024-38396

RCE in Iterm2 3.5.0 – 3.5.2

Public PoCRCE
Published
16 June 2024
Modified
20 June 2025
Patch / advisory
CVSS Score v3.1 9.8
Click a component to see what it means
Raw vectorCVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:L/PR:N/UI:N/S:U/C:H/I:H/A:H
EPSS Score 0.017 75th percentile
Risk Priority 80 floored blend · peak EPSS

Summary

CVE-2024-38396 is a critical-severity Code Injection (CWE-94) vulnerability in Iterm2 Iterm2. Its CVSS base score is 9.8 (Critical).

Operationally, exploitation aligns with the MITRE ATT&CK technique Command and Scripting Interpreter (T1059); ranked in the top 25% of CVEs by exploit likelihood; it is not currently listed in the CISA KEV catalog; a public proof-of-concept is referenced.

The strongest mitigations our analysis identified map to SA-11 (Developer Testing and Evaluation) and SI-10 (Information Input Validation) — 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.

CVE-2024-38396 affects iTerm2 versions 3.5.x prior to 3.5.2. The flaw stems from unfiltered handling of an escape sequence that reports the window title when the application's built-in tmux integration is active, which is enabled by default. This permits code injection into the terminal and is tracked under CWE-94 with a CVSS 3.1 score of 9.8.

An attacker can supply a malicious escape sequence through a remote host, SSH session, or any untrusted output rendered in the terminal. Because tmux integration processes the sequence without sanitization, the attacker can achieve arbitrary code execution on the user's system without requiring authentication or user interaction.

The referenced commit fc60236a914d63fb70a5c632e211203a4f1bd4dd and the iTerm2 3.5.2 release on the project downloads page address the issue by filtering the escape sequence. The oss-security advisory and the detailed write-up at vin01.github.io both recommend upgrading immediately and disabling tmux integration until patches are applied if downgrades are not feasible.

EPSS scores have remained near 0.10 with only minor fluctuation between current and peak values, indicating no pronounced post-disclosure exploitation surge.

OWASP Top 10 for Web (2025)

EU & UK References

Vulnerability Data

An issue was discovered in iTerm2 3.5.x before 3.5.2. Unfiltered use of an escape sequence to report a window title, in combination with the built-in tmux integration feature (enabled by default), allows an attacker to inject arbitrary code into the…

more

terminal, a different vulnerability than CVE-2024-38395.

CWE(s)

Related Threats

MITRE ATT&CK Enterprise Techniques

T1059 Command and Scripting Interpreter Execution
Adversaries may abuse command and script interpreters to execute commands, scripts, or binaries.
T1059.001 PowerShell Execution
Adversaries may abuse PowerShell commands and scripts for execution.
T1059.002 AppleScript Execution
Adversaries may abuse AppleScript for execution.
T1059.004 Unix Shell Execution
Adversaries may abuse Unix shell commands and scripts for execution.
T1059.005 Visual Basic Execution
Adversaries may abuse Visual Basic (VB) for execution.
T1059.006 Python Execution
Adversaries may abuse Python commands and scripts for execution.
Derived from this CVE’s CWE(s) via the direct CWE→ATT&CK cross-walk.

CVEs Like This One

CVE-2024-38395Same product: Iterm2 Iterm2
CVE-2023-46300Same product: Iterm2 Iterm2
CVE-2023-46301Same product: Iterm2 Iterm2
CVE-2025-22275Same product: Iterm2 Iterm2
CVE-2026-41253Same product: Iterm2 Iterm2
CVE-2023-46321Same product: Iterm2 Iterm2
CVE-2023-46322Same product: Iterm2 Iterm2
CVE-2026-1340Shared CWE-94
CVE-2024-54724Shared CWE-94
CVE-2013-3906Shared CWE-94

Affected Assets

iterm2
iterm2
3.5.0 — 3.5.2

Mitigating Controls

Control response

Prevent
Stop it (NIST 800-53)

Detect
Catch it (NIST detect / respond)

Harden
Shrink the surface (DISA STIG)

Validate
Prove the fix (OWASP ASVS)
  • V1.3.1

Mitigating Controls (NIST 800-53 r5) AI

Developer testing and evaluation finds code paths that accept and execute externally influenced strings.

Input validation directly stops untrusted data from being used to construct executable code without neutralization.

Least privilege limits the damage an injected code fragment can perform once executed.

Requiring documented secure development standards and tools enforces use of safe code-generation APIs and escaping.

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.

PR.PS-06 mostly match
prevents

PR.PS-06's SDLC practices directly target injection flaws via secure coding and testing (mostly), yet as a single broad outcome it leaves many code-generation specifics unaddressed (partial).

PR.DS-10 none match
prevents

PR.DS-10 protects runtime data confidentiality/integrity but has no bearing on neutralizing externally influenced input during code generation, so neither direction shows any preventive effect.

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.

prevents

Banning unapproved code samples and unauthenticated web services, combined with secure-coding standards and SAST, prevents the dynamic generation or inclusion of attacker-supplied code.

none

Controls that restrict unauthorized or malicious code from being introduced via external networks or removable media limit opportunities for an attacker to inject and execute arbitrary code.

References