Cyber Resilience

CVE-2024-46256

RCE in Jc21 Nginx Proxy Manager 2.11.3

Public PoCRCECommand Injection
Published
27 September 2024
Modified
03 June 2025
Patch / advisory
View 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 0.031 86th percentile
Risk Priority 96 floored blend · peak EPSS

Summary

CVE-2024-46256 is a critical-severity Command Injection (CWE-77) vulnerability in Jc21 Nginx Proxy Manager. 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 14% 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-2024-46256 is a command injection vulnerability in NginxProxyManager version 2.11.3 that resides in the requestLetsEncryptSsl function within the backend certificate handling code. The flaw, tracked under CWE-77, permits remote code execution when an attacker triggers the Add Let's Encrypt Certificate workflow, and it carries a CVSS 3.1 score of 9.8 reflecting network-accessible, unauthenticated exploitation with full confidentiality, integrity, and availability impact.

An unauthenticated attacker with network access to the management interface can supply crafted input during certificate provisioning to execute arbitrary commands on the host. Successful exploitation grants the attacker full remote code execution, enabling complete system compromise without requiring credentials or user interaction.

Public references include the vulnerable code path at backend/internal/certificate.js line 830, a corrective commit, and an associated pull request that address the injection issue, indicating that upgrading to a patched release is the intended mitigation.

A publicly available proof-of-concept exploit exists, and the CVE's EPSS score has reached a peak of 0.6860 with a current value of 0.6015, demonstrating sustained exploitation interest following disclosure.

OWASP Top 10 for Web (2025)

A05:2025 Injection

EU & UK References

Vulnerability Data

A Command injection vulnerability in requestLetsEncryptSsl in NginxProxyManager 2.11.3 allows an attacker to RCE via Add Let's Encrypt Certificate.

CWE(s)
CWE-77

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.
attack.mitre.org →
T1190 Exploit Public-Facing Application Initial Access
Adversaries may attempt to exploit a weakness in an Internet-facing host or system to initially access a network.
attack.mitre.org →
T1059.001 PowerShell Execution
Adversaries may abuse PowerShell commands and scripts for execution.
attack.mitre.org →
T1059.003 Windows Command Shell Execution
Adversaries may abuse the Windows command shell for execution.
attack.mitre.org →
T1059.004 Unix Shell Execution
Adversaries may abuse Unix shell commands and scripts for execution.
attack.mitre.org →
T1059.008 Network Device CLI Execution
Adversaries may abuse scripting or built-in command line interpreters (CLI) on network devices to execute malicious command and payloads.
attack.mitre.org →
Derived from this CVE’s CWE(s) via the direct CWE→ATT&CK cross-walk.

CVEs Like This One

CVE-2023-27224Same product: Jc21 Nginx Proxy Manager
CVE-2024-39935Same product: Jc21 Nginx Proxy Manager
CVE-2023-23596Same product: Jc21 Nginx Proxy Manager
CVE-2024-46257Same product: Jc21 Nginx Proxy Manager
CVE-2025-50579Same product: Jc21 Nginx Proxy Manager
CVE-2024-53672Shared CWE-77
CVE-2024-38228Shared CWE-77
CVE-2023-1389Shared CWE-77
CVE-2023-46409Shared CWE-77
CVE-2023-37469Shared CWE-77

Affected Assets

jc21
nginx proxy manager
2.11.3

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)
  • V1.2.3
  • V1.2.5
  • V1.2.8
  • V1.2.9

Mitigating Controls (NIST 800-53 r5) AI

SA-11 Developer Testing and Evaluation good match

Developer testing and evaluation can discover command-construction flaws before deployment.

SI-10 Information Input Validation good match

Input validation directly stops construction of commands from untrusted data containing special elements.

SA-8 Security and Privacy Engineering Principles partial match

Secure engineering principles include proper neutralization and safe command construction practices.

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

Secure SDLC practices directly require input validation and neutralization that prevent command injection.

DE.CM-09 partial match
prevents

Runtime monitoring of software and data can detect anomalous command execution resulting from injection.

ID.RA-01 partial match
prevents

Identifying recorded vulnerabilities enables remediation of command-injection flaws before exploitation.

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.

A.8.28 Secure coding mostly match
prevents

Secure coding standards require proper escaping and parameterization of commands, directly eliminating CWE-77.

A.8.29 Security testing in development and acceptance mostly match
finds

Security testing in development catches command-injection vulnerabilities before release.

A.8.25 Secure development life cycle partial match
prevents

Secure development life cycle mandates input validation and command construction practices that directly prevent command injection.

A.8.26 Application security requirements partial match
prevents

Application security requirements explicitly call for controls against injection flaws including command injection.

A.8.27 Secure system architecture and engineering principles partial match
prevents

Secure architecture principles reduce the attack surface but do not prescribe the specific neutralization techniques needed.

A.8.31 Separation of development, test and production environments none match
none

Environment separation limits the blast radius of an exploited command injection but does not prevent the flaw itself.

References