CVE-2024-4990

CriticalPublic PoC

Published: 20 March 2025

Published

20 March 2025

Modified

01 April 2025

KEV Added

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Patch

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CVSS Score 9.1 CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:L/PR:N/UI:N/S:U/C:H/I:N/A:H

EPSS Score 0.0015 34.5th percentile

Risk Priority 18 60% EPSS · 20% KEV · 20% CVSS

Summary

CVE-2024-4990 is a critical-severity Unsafe Reflection (CWE-470) vulnerability in Yiiframework Yii. Its CVSS base score is 9.1 (Critical).

Operationally, exploitation aligns with the MITRE ATT&CK technique Exploit Public-Facing Application (T1190); ranked at the 34.5th percentile by exploit likelihood (below the median); it is not currently listed in the CISA KEV catalog; a public proof-of-concept is referenced.

The strongest mitigations our analysis identified are NIST 800-53 SI-10 (Information Input Validation) and SI-2 (Flaw Remediation).

Threat & Defense at a Glance

What attackers do: exploitation maps to Exploit Public-Facing Application (T1190) and 1 other technique. What defenders deploy: see the NIST 800-53 controls recommended below.

Threat & Defense Details

Mitigating Controls (NIST 800-53 r5)AI

SI-2 Flaw Remediation good match

prevent

Flaw remediation directly patches the vulnerable __set() method in Yii2 version 2.0.48, eliminating the ability to instantiate arbitrary classes.

SI-10 Information Input Validation good match

prevent

Information input validation ensures values passed to __set() are restricted to valid Behavior class names or configurations, blocking arbitrary class instantiation.

RA-5 Vulnerability Monitoring and Scanning partial match

detect

Vulnerability monitoring and scanning identifies systems with the vulnerable Yii2 version, enabling proactive remediation before exploitation.

MITRE ATT&CK Enterprise TechniquesAI

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 Command and Scripting Interpreter Execution

Adversaries may abuse command and script interpreters to execute commands, scripts, or binaries.

attack.mitre.org →

Why these techniques?

Remote unauthenticated RCE via unsafe class instantiation in public-facing PHP web framework directly enables T1190 (Exploit Public-Facing Application) and facilitates T1059 (Command and Scripting Interpreter) for arbitrary code execution.

Confidence: HIGH · MITRE ATT&CK Enterprise v19.0

NVD Description

In yiisoft/yii2 version 2.0.48, the base Component class contains a vulnerability where the `__set()` magic method does not validate that the value passed is a valid Behavior class name or configuration. This allows an attacker to instantiate arbitrary classes, passing…

parameters to their constructors and invoking setter methods. Depending on the installed dependencies, various types of attacks are possible, including the execution of arbitrary code, retrieval of sensitive information, and unauthorized access.

Deeper analysisAI

CVE-2024-4990 affects yiisoft/yii2 version 2.0.48, a PHP framework, specifically in its base Component class. The vulnerability arises because the `__set()` magic method fails to validate that the value passed to it is a valid Behavior class name or configuration. This flaw enables attackers to instantiate arbitrary classes, supply parameters to their constructors, and invoke setter methods on those classes.

Remote attackers require no privileges or user interaction to exploit this issue over the network with low complexity, as indicated by its CVSS 3.1 score of 9.1 (AV:N/AC:L/PR:N/UI:N/S:U/C:H/I:N/A:H). Exploitation depends on the victim's installed dependencies and can lead to arbitrary code execution, retrieval of sensitive information, or unauthorized access. The issue is classified under CWE-470.

Details on mitigation, including any patches or workarounds, are documented in the advisory at https://huntr.com/bounties/4fbdd965-02b6-42e4-b57b-f98f93415b8f. The vulnerability was published on 2025-03-20.