Cyber Resilience

CVE-2024-51941

RCE in Apache Ambari ≤ 2.7.8

Published
21 January 2025
Modified
02 October 2025
Patch / advisory
CVSS Score v3.1 8.8
Click a component to see what it means
Raw vectorCVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:L/PR:L/UI:N/S:U/C:H/I:H/A:H
EPSS Score 0.014 71th percentile
Risk Priority 67 floored blend · peak EPSS

Summary

CVE-2024-51941 is a high-severity Code Injection (CWE-94) vulnerability in Apache Ambari. Its CVSS base score is 8.8 (High).

Operationally, exploitation aligns with the MITRE ATT&CK technique Command and Scripting Interpreter (T1059); ranked in the top 29% of CVEs by exploit likelihood; it is not currently listed in the CISA KEV catalog.

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-2024-51941 is a remote code injection vulnerability (CWE-94) in the Ambari Metrics and AMS Alerts feature of Apache Ambari. The flaw arises during the processing of alert definitions, where malicious input can be injected into the alert script execution path, enabling authenticated users to execute arbitrary code. It carries a CVSS v3.1 base score of 8.8 (AV:N/AC:L/PR:L/UI:N/S:U/C:H/I:H/A:H) and was published on 2025-01-21.

An authenticated attacker can exploit this vulnerability remotely with low complexity and no user interaction required. By crafting malicious alert definitions, the attacker can inject and execute arbitrary commands on the Ambari server, potentially leading to full compromise of the system.

The vulnerability has been fixed in the latest versions of Ambari. Additional details are available in the Apache mailing list advisory at https://lists.apache.org/thread/xq50nlff7o7z1kq3y637clzzl6mjhl8j and the OSS-Security announcement at http://www.openwall.com/lists/oss-security/2025/01/21/9.

OWASP Top 10 for Web (2025)

EU & UK References

Vulnerability Data

A remote code injection vulnerability exists in the Ambari Metrics and AMS Alerts feature, allowing authenticated users to inject and execute arbitrary code. The vulnerability occurs when processing alert definitions, where malicious input can be injected into the alert script…

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execution path. An attacker with authenticated access can exploit this vulnerability to execute arbitrary commands on the server. The issue has been fixed in the latest versions of Ambari.

CWE(s)

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.
T1059.001 PowerShell Execution
Adversaries may abuse PowerShell commands and scripts for execution.
T1059.002 AppleScript Execution
Adversaries may abuse AppleScript for execution.
T1059.004 Unix Shell Execution
Adversaries may abuse Unix shell commands and scripts for execution.
T1059.005 Visual Basic Execution
Adversaries may abuse Visual Basic (VB) for execution.
T1059.006 Python Execution
Adversaries may abuse Python commands and scripts for execution.
Derived from this CVE’s CWE(s) via the direct CWE→ATT&CK cross-walk.

CVEs Like This One

CVE-2023-50379Same product: Apache Ambari
CVE-2026-40563Same vendor: Apache
CVE-2023-33246Same vendor: Apache
CVE-2025-59059Same vendor: Apache
CVE-2023-37582Same vendor: Apache
CVE-2024-36268Same vendor: Apache
CVE-2023-51387Same vendor: Apache
CVE-2024-29178Same vendor: Apache
CVE-2022-40127Same vendor: Apache
CVE-2025-54550Same vendor: Apache

Affected Assets

apache
ambari
≤ 2.7.8

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)
  • V1.3.1

Mitigating Controls (NIST 800-53 r5) AI

Developer testing and evaluation finds code paths that accept and execute externally influenced strings.

Input validation directly stops untrusted data from being used to construct executable code without neutralization.

Least privilege limits the damage an injected code fragment can perform once executed.

Requiring documented secure development standards and tools enforces use of safe code-generation APIs and escaping.

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

PR.PS-06's SDLC practices directly target injection flaws via secure coding and testing (mostly), yet as a single broad outcome it leaves many code-generation specifics unaddressed (partial).

PR.DS-10 none match
prevents

PR.DS-10 protects runtime data confidentiality/integrity but has no bearing on neutralizing externally influenced input during code generation, so neither direction shows any preventive effect.

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.

prevents

Banning unapproved code samples and unauthenticated web services, combined with secure-coding standards and SAST, prevents the dynamic generation or inclusion of attacker-supplied code.

none

Controls that restrict unauthorized or malicious code from being introduced via external networks or removable media limit opportunities for an attacker to inject and execute arbitrary code.

References