Cyber Resilience

CVE-2024-57728

Path Traversal in Simple-Help Simplehelp ≤ 5.5.8

CISA KEVActive ExploitationEUVD ExploitedRansomware-linkedPath Traversal
Published
15 January 2025
Modified
24 April 2026
KEV Added
24 April 2026
Patch / advisory
CVSS Score v3.1 7.2
Click a component to see what it means
Raw vectorCVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:L/PR:H/UI:N/S:U/C:H/I:H/A:H
EPSS Score 0.070 94th percentile
Risk Priority 79 floored blend · peak EPSS

Summary

CVE-2024-57728 is a high-severity Link Following (CWE-59) vulnerability in Simple-Help Simplehelp. Its CVSS base score is 7.2 (High).

Operationally, exploitation aligns with the MITRE ATT&CK technique Path Interception (T1034); ranked in the top 6% of CVEs by exploit likelihood; CISA has added it to the Known Exploited Vulnerabilities catalog.

The strongest mitigations our analysis identified map to AC-3 (Access Enforcement) 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.

SimpleHelp remote support software versions 5.5.7 and earlier contain a zip-slip vulnerability that permits authenticated administrators to upload a specially crafted archive and write arbitrary files to any location on the underlying file system. The flaw is tracked as CVE-2024-57728, carries a CVSS 3.1 score of 7.2, and maps to CWE-59 and CWE-22 path-traversal weaknesses; successful exploitation grants the attacker the ability to place executable content that runs in the context of the SimpleHelp server process.

An administrator account is sufficient to trigger the issue over the network. By supplying a malicious zip during the normal file-upload workflow, an attacker can overwrite binaries, scripts, or configuration files used by the SimpleHelp service, ultimately achieving remote code execution on the host without further user interaction.

Vendor guidance published in January 2025 directs administrators to apply the fixes released in SimpleHelp 5.5.8 or later. The vulnerability appears in the CISA Known Exploited Vulnerabilities catalog, and reporting from Microsoft and Trend Micro links exploitation activity to ransomware operators including Storm-1175 and DragonForce campaigns, indicating active in-the-wild use after disclosure. The associated EPSS score has remained elevated, with a recorded peak of 0.5933.

OWASP Top 10 for Web (2025)

EU & UK References

Vulnerability Data

SimpleHelp remote support software v5.5.7 and before allows admin users to upload arbitrary files anywhere on the file system by uploading a crafted zip file (i.e. zip slip). This can be exploited to execute arbitrary code on the host in…

more

the context of the SimpleHelp server user.

CWE(s)
KEV Date Added
24 April 2026

Related Threats

Threat-Actor AttributionAI

STORM-1175
Microsoft links STORM-1175 to Medusa ransomware operations exploiting SimpleHelp web-facing instances (Microsoft Security Blog).

MITRE ATT&CK Enterprise Techniques

T1034 Path Interception Persistence
**This technique has been deprecated.
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.
T1547.009 Shortcut Modification Persistence
Adversaries may create or modify shortcuts that can execute a program during system boot or user login.
Derived from this CVE’s CWE(s) via the direct CWE→ATT&CK cross-walk.

CVEs Like This One

CVE-2024-57727Same product: Simple-Help Simplehelpboth on KEV
CVE-2022-21999Shared CWE-22, CWE-59both on KEV
CVE-2020-36193Shared CWE-22, CWE-59both on KEV
CVE-2022-30333Shared CWE-22, CWE-59both on KEV
CVE-2026-24046Shared CWE-22, CWE-59
CVE-2026-44340Shared CWE-22, CWE-59
CVE-2026-34603Shared CWE-22, CWE-59
CVE-2026-47277Shared CWE-22, CWE-59
CVE-2026-33001Shared CWE-22, CWE-59
CVE-2026-34604Shared CWE-22, CWE-59

Affected Assets

simple-help
simplehelp
≤ 5.5.8

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)
  • V5.3.2
  • V15.4.2

Mitigating Controls (NIST 800-53 r5) AI

Proper enforcement of access authorizations on the resolved target resource stops a link from reaching an unintended object.

Input validation directly neutralizes special path elements before pathname construction occurs.

Least-privilege limits the damage an attacker can cause after following an unintended link.

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 code to validate paths and avoid unsafe link following.

PR.PS-02 partial match
prevents

Patching/maintenance can remediate known path-traversal flaws in deployed software (partial prevention of exploitability) but does nothing to stop the coding defect from being introduced in the first place.

PR.AA-05 none match
prevents

PR.AA-05 defines and reviews access policies but does not address code-level pathname neutralization, so neither direction prevents CWE-22.

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.

finds

Security testing can detect link-following flaws before release.

prevents

Secure SDLC practices can mandate link-resolution checks and canonicalization before file access.

prevents

Application security requirements can explicitly require safe handling of symbolic links and path traversal.

prevents

Secure architecture principles include input validation and safe file-access design patterns.

prevents

Secure coding standards directly address canonicalization and symlink attacks during implementation.

mitigates

Information access restriction limits which files an application may read or write.

References