CVE-2024-43451
Path Traversal in Microsoft Windows 10 21H2 ≤ 10.0.19044.5131
Raw vector
CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:L/PR:N/UI:R/S:U/C:H/I:N/A:NSummary
CVE-2024-43451 is a medium-severity External Control of File Name or Path (CWE-73) vulnerability in Microsoft Windows 10 21H2. Its CVSS base score is 6.5 (Medium).
Operationally, exploitation aligns with the MITRE ATT&CK technique Data from Local System (T1005); ranked in the top 0.4% of CVEs by exploit likelihood; CISA has added it to the Known Exploited Vulnerabilities catalog.
The strongest mitigations our analysis identified map to SI-10 (Information Input Validation) and AC-3 (Access 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.
CVE-2024-43451 is an NTLM Hash Disclosure Spoofing Vulnerability carrying a CVSS 3.1 score of 6.5. The flaw enables an attacker to obtain NTLM hashes via spoofing and is tracked under CWE-73.
An unauthenticated remote attacker can trigger the issue over the network with no privileges required, provided the victim performs a user interaction such as opening attacker-controlled content; successful exploitation discloses NTLM hashes and therefore compromises confidentiality while leaving integrity and availability unaffected.
Microsoft has issued an advisory detailing the vulnerability, and CISA has added CVE-2024-43451 to its Known Exploited Vulnerabilities catalog. The associated EPSS score currently stands at 0.9031 with a recorded peak of 0.9039, indicating sustained and substantial exploitation interest following disclosure.
OWASP Top 10 for Web (2025)
EU & UK References
- 🇪🇺 ENISA EUVD: EUVD-2024-40720
Vulnerability Data
NTLM Hash Disclosure Spoofing Vulnerability
- CWE(s)
- KEV Date Added
- 12 November 2024
Related Threats
MITRE ATT&CK Enterprise Techniques
CVEs Like This One
Affected Assets
Mitigating Controls
Control response
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V5.3.2
Mitigating Controls (NIST 800-53 r5) AI
Input validation directly rejects or sanitizes untrusted path strings before they reach filesystem operations.
Enforces authorization checks on the actual resource accessed, blocking unauthorized files even when a malicious path is supplied.
Least-privilege limits the set of files or directories any subject can affect, shrinking the blast radius of a path-control flaw.
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.
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 path-traversal issues but does not itself implement preventive controls.
Secure development lifecycle mandates input validation and path-handling controls that directly prevent external file/path manipulation.
Application security requirements explicitly call for controls against untrusted input influencing file operations.
Secure architecture principles discourage unsafe path construction but do not prescribe concrete file-name controls.
Secure coding standards require canonicalization, allow-listing, and bounds checks on file paths, directly eliminating CWE-73.
Information access restriction limits which files can be reached, indirectly reducing impact of path manipulation.