Cyber Resilience

CVE-2024-46981

Memory Safety in Redis 6.2.0 – 6.2.17

Public PoCMemory Safety
Published
06 January 2025
Modified
05 September 2025
Patch / advisory
View advisory
CVSS Score v3.1 7.0
Click a component to see what it means
Raw vectorCVSS:3.1/AV:L/AC:H/PR:L/UI:N/S:U/C:H/I:H/A:H
EPSS Score 0.082 94th percentile
Risk Priority 77 floored blend · peak EPSS

Summary

CVE-2024-46981 is a high-severity Use After Free (CWE-416) vulnerability in Redis Redis. Its CVSS base score is 7.0 (High).

Operationally, exploitation aligns with the MITRE ATT&CK technique Exploitation for Client Execution (T1203); ranked in the top 6% 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 SA-8 (Security and Privacy Engineering Principles) — 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.

Redis is an open source in-memory database that persists on disk. CVE-2024-46981 is a use-after-free issue (CWE-416) in its Lua scripting subsystem. An authenticated user who can execute Lua can supply a crafted script that interferes with the garbage collector, potentially resulting in remote code execution. The flaw affects all versions prior to the patches released in 7.4.2, 7.2.7, and 6.2.17.

An attacker with an existing authenticated session on the Redis instance can exploit the vulnerability by sending a malicious EVAL or EVALSHA command. Successful exploitation grants the attacker the ability to execute arbitrary code on the server with the privileges of the redis process. The CVSS 7.0 score reflects the local attack vector, high complexity, and high impact on confidentiality, integrity, and availability.

The official Redis advisories and release notes state that the issue is resolved in the three versions listed above. As a workaround without upgrading the server binary, administrators can use ACL rules to deny the EVAL and EVALSHA commands to untrusted users, thereby blocking Lua script execution entirely. The EPSS score has remained flat at 0.8073 with no material increase since disclosure.

EU & UK References

Vulnerability Data

Redis is an open source, in-memory database that persists on disk. An authenticated user may use a specially crafted Lua script to manipulate the garbage collector and potentially lead to remote code execution. The problem is fixed in 7.4.2, 7.2.7,…

more

and 6.2.17. An additional workaround to mitigate the problem without patching the redis-server executable is to prevent users from executing Lua scripts. This can be done using ACL to restrict EVAL and EVALSHA commands.

CWE(s)
CWE-416

Related Threats

MITRE ATT&CK Enterprise Techniques

T1203 Exploitation for Client Execution Execution
Adversaries may exploit software vulnerabilities in client applications to execute code.
attack.mitre.org →
T1068 Exploitation for Privilege Escalation Privilege Escalation
Adversaries may exploit software vulnerabilities in an attempt to elevate privileges.
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 →
T1210 Exploitation of Remote Services Lateral Movement
Adversaries may exploit remote services to gain unauthorized access to internal systems once inside of a network.
attack.mitre.org →
T1212 Exploitation for Credential Access Credential Access
Adversaries may exploit software vulnerabilities in an attempt to collect credentials.
attack.mitre.org →
Derived from this CVE’s CWE(s) via the direct CWE→ATT&CK cross-walk.

CVEs Like This One

CVE-2026-23479Same product: Redis Redis
CVE-2026-23631Same product: Redis Redis
CVE-2024-26689Same product: Debian Debian Linux
CVE-2023-3609Same product: Debian Debian Linux
CVE-2025-39864Same product: Debian Debian Linux
CVE-2025-49844Same product: Redis Redis
CVE-2025-37885Same product: Debian Debian Linux
CVE-2025-38578Same product: Debian Debian Linux
CVE-2025-38346Same product: Debian Debian Linux
CVE-2025-38377Same product: Debian Debian Linux

Affected Assets

redis
redis
6.2.0 — 6.2.17 · 7.2.0 — 7.2.7 · 7.4.0 — 7.4.2
debian
debian linux
11.0

Mitigating Controls

Control response

Prevent
Stop it (NIST 800-53)

—

Detect
Catch it (NIST detect / respond)

—

Harden
Shrink the surface (DISA STIG)
  • 3 hardening rules · 3 OS baselines
Validate
Prove the fix (OWASP ASVS)
  • V1.4.3

Mitigating Controls (NIST 800-53 r5) AI

SA-11 Developer Testing and Evaluation good match

Developer testing and evaluation can discover use-after-free bugs through dynamic analysis or fuzzing.

SA-8 Security and Privacy Engineering Principles partial match

Engineering principles can require memory-safe constructs or languages that structurally avoid introducing use-after-free.

SC-39 Process Isolation partial match

Process isolation confines the blast radius of use-after-free memory corruption to a single execution domain.

SI-16 Memory Protection partial match

Memory protection controls limit exploitation impact by blocking unauthorized code execution from dangling pointers.

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 incorporate memory-safety tooling and reviews that prevent most use-after-free defects.

ID.RA-01 partial match
prevents

Vulnerability identification processes can discover use-after-free issues via scanning or analysis but do not prevent their introduction.

PR.PS-02 partial match
prevents

Routine patching removes known use-after-free instances after they have been introduced in released software.

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.8.29 Security testing in development and acceptance mostly match
finds

Security testing in development can detect use-after-free bugs before release.

A.8.25 Secure development life cycle partial match
prevents

Secure SDLC mandates memory-safety practices that reduce use-after-free defects.

A.8.26 Application security requirements partial match
prevents

Application security requirements can specify memory-management rules that mitigate use-after-free.

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

Secure architecture principles include memory-safety design choices that limit use-after-free exposure.

A.8.28 Secure coding partial match
prevents

Secure coding standards directly prescribe avoidance of use-after-free patterns.

A.8.32 Change management partial match
prevents

Change-management processes help ensure memory-safety fixes are deployed consistently.

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-248592 OL 8 must clear memory when it is freed to prevent use-after-free attacks. prevents CWE-416
RHEL 8 (1 rule)
  • V-230279 RHEL 8 must clear memory when it is freed to prevent use-after-free attacks. prevents CWE-416
RHEL 9 (1 rule)
  • V-257794 RHEL 9 must clear memory when it is freed to prevent use-after-free attacks. prevents CWE-416

References