Raw vector
CVSS:4.0/AV:N/AC:L/AT:P/PR:N/UI:P/VC:H/VI:H/VA:H/SC:N/SI:N/SA:N/E:X/CR:X/IR:X/AR:X/MAV:X/MAC:X/MAT:X/MPR:X/MUI:X/MVC:X/MVI:X/MVA:X/MSC:X/MSI:X/MSA:X/S:X/AU:X/R:X/V:X/RE:X/U:XSummary
CVE-2024-51738 is a high-severity Authentication Bypass by Primary Weakness (CWE-305) vulnerability in Lizardbyte Sunshine. Its CVSS base score is 7.7 (High).
Operationally, exploitation aligns with the MITRE ATT&CK technique Exploit Public-Facing Application (T1190); ranked at the 44th percentile by exploit likelihood (below the median); it is not currently listed in the CISA KEV catalog.
The strongest mitigations our analysis identified map to IA-2 (Identification and Authentication (Organizational Users)) and IA-8 (Identification and Authentication (Non-organizational Users)) — 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-2024-51738 affects Sunshine, a self-hosted game stream host for Moonlight, in versions 0.23.1 and earlier. The vulnerability stems from the pairing protocol implementation, which fails to validate request order, enabling a man-in-the-middle (MITM) attack. This issue is rated with a CVSS v3.1 base score of 8.1 (AV:N/AC:H/PR:N/UI:N/S:U/C:H/I:H/A:H) and is associated with CWE-305 (Incorrect Inheritance of Permissions), CWE-476 (NULL Pointer Dereference), and CWE-841 (Improper Enforcement of Behavioral Workflow).
An unauthenticated remote attacker can exploit this vulnerability by positioning themselves between a legitimate client and the Sunshine server during a pairing attempt. By hijacking the pairing process, the attacker can successfully pair their own client, potentially gaining unauthorized access to the game streaming service. Additionally, the flaw allows a remote attacker to crash the Sunshine instance.
The vulnerability has been fixed in version 2025.118.151840. Security practitioners should update to this patched version. Relevant details are available in the GitHub security advisory at https://github.com/LizardByte/Sunshine/security/advisories/GHSA-3hrw-xv8h-9499 and the fixing commit at https://github.com/LizardByte/Sunshine/commit/89f097ae65277d42b5d40163d09d92e412e6d7dd.
OWASP Top 10 for Web (2025)
EU & UK References
- 🇪🇺 ENISA EUVD: EUVD-2024-45801
Vulnerability Data
Sunshine is a self-hosted game stream host for Moonlight. In 0.23.1 and earlier, Sunshine's pairing protocol implementation does not validate request order and is thereby vulnerable to a MITM attack, potentially allowing an unauthenticated attacker to pair a client by…
more
hijacking a legitimate pairing attempt. This bug may also be used by a remote attacker to crash Sunshine. This vulnerability is fixed in 2025.118.151840.
- CWE(s)
Related Threats
MITRE ATT&CK Enterprise Techniques
CVEs Like This One
Affected Assets
Mitigating Controls
Control response
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- 5 hardening rules · 3 OS baselines
V6.4.3V7.2.4V7.2.1
Mitigating Controls (NIST 800-53 r5) AI
Requires unique identification and authentication of users, structurally blocking bypass of the mechanism.
Requires unique identification and authentication of non-organizational users, blocking bypass paths.
Developer testing and evaluation (including static analysis) directly finds null-dereference bugs before deployment.
Enforces approved authorizations so a bypass weakness cannot be exploited to reach resources.
Re-authentication requirements can be placed at critical workflow steps to ensure the actor has performed prior behaviors.
Documented development standards and tools can enforce null-safety rules and safe pointer usage.
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.
Secure development practices throughout the SDLC prevent the primary weaknesses that enable authentication bypass.
Strong authentication mechanisms and policy enforcement directly reduce bypass opportunities arising from implementation flaws.
Identifying and recording vulnerabilities catches the primary weaknesses that allow authentication bypass.
Enforcing authorization policies can include sequence constraints on multi-step actions.
Hardened configuration baselines can embed required workflow ordering rules.
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 authentication bypass conditions before deployment.
Secure development lifecycle reduces likelihood of introducing bypass flaws during implementation.
Application security requirements can specify input validation and pointer-safety rules.
Secure architecture principles encourage defensive design that avoids unsafe pointer use.
Secure coding practices help prevent the primary weakness that enables authentication bypass.
Information access restriction complements authentication by limiting what can be reached even if bypass occurs.
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).
Ubuntu 22.04 (1 rule)
- V-260470 Ubuntu 22.04 LTS, when booted, must require authentication upon booting into single-user and maintenance modes. prevents CWE-305
Ubuntu 24.04 (1 rule)
- V-270675 Ubuntu 24.04 LTS when booted must require authentication upon booting into single-user and maintenance modes. prevents CWE-305