# CVE-2024-23831: Privilege escalation through CSRF attack on 'setup.pl'

> Attackers can trick admins into creating privileged accounts via CSRF in setup.pl, leading to privilege escalation in LedgerSMB.

- **Severity:** High 7.5 (`CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:H/PR:N/UI:R/S:U/C:H/I:H/A:H`)
- **Exploited in the wild:** Not known
- **Login needed:** Not needed
- **Attackable:** Over the internet
- **Victim action needed:** A user has to click or open something
- **Fix available:** Yes
- **Published:** 2 Feb 2024
- **Updated:** 21 Aug 2024
- **Also known as:** DEBIAN-CVE-2024-23831, GHSA-98ff-f638-qxjm, UBUNTU-CVE-2024-23831

## What is CVE-2024-23831?

CVE-2024-23831 is a high-severity vulnerability in LedgerSMB, published on 2 Feb 2024. An attacker can exploit it over the internet without logging in, and only if a user opens a file or follows a link.

### Official description

LedgerSMB is a free web-based double-entry accounting system. When a LedgerSMB database administrator has an active session in /setup.pl, an attacker can trick the admin into clicking on a link which automatically submits a request to setup.pl without the admin's consent.  This request can be used to create a new user account with full application (/login.pl) privileges, leading to privilege escalation.  The vulnerability is patched in versions 1.10.30 and 1.11.9.

Weakness: CWE-352 (Cross-Site Request Forgery)

## Which versions are affected by CVE-2024-23831?

It affects 1 product.


Products: Ledgersmb Ledgersmb.

## How do I fix CVE-2024-23831?

Upgrade to a fixed version.

## Is CVE-2024-23831 being exploited?

There is no known exploitation of CVE-2024-23831 in the wild and no public exploit code.

## Other vulnerabilities in LedgerSMB

- [CVE-2007-3907](https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2007-3907/): Auth bypass in n/a (critical 10.0)
- [CVE-2007-1329](https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2007-1329/): Path traversal in n/a (critical 10.0)
- [CVE-2018-9246](https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2018-9246/): Command injection in n/a (critical 9.8)
- [CVE-2007-1437](https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2007-1437/): Auth bypass in n/a (critical 9.0)
- [CVE-2008-4077](https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2008-4077/): Denial of service in n/a (high 7.8)

## Fix prompt for AI coding agents

```text
Check this codebase for CVE-2024-23831 and fix it if it is affected.

What it is: CVE-2024-23831 is a high-severity vulnerability in LedgerSMB, published on 2 Feb 2024. An attacker can exploit it over the internet without logging in, and only if a user opens a file or follows a link.
Exploitation: There is no known exploitation of CVE-2024-23831 in the wild and no public exploit code.

Affected product: LedgerSMB. No package-level version data is available, so check the vendor advisory linked from the reference page.

Task:
1. Search the dependency manifests and lockfiles (for example package.json, package-lock.json, requirements.txt, poetry.lock, uv.lock, pom.xml, build.gradle, go.mod, Cargo.lock, Gemfile.lock) and any Dockerfiles for the affected packages, including transitive dependencies.
2. If an affected version is in use, upgrade it to the fixed version for its release line with the project's package manager, so the lockfile is regenerated. Prefer the smallest upgrade that fixes it.
3. If there is no fix, or the upgrade would break the build, do not guess: explain the risk and the safest workaround instead.
4. Run the tests and summarise what changed and why.
5. If nothing in the project is affected, say so and change nothing.

Reference: https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2024-23831/ (Markdown: https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2024-23831/index.md)
```

## Sources

- CVE record: https://www.cve.org/CVERecord?id=CVE-2024-23831
- NVD: https://nvd.nist.gov/vuln/detail/CVE-2024-23831
- OSV: https://osv.dev/vulnerability/CVE-2024-23831

---
From sbomify Insights: https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2024-23831/
Summaries are generated and may contain mistakes; the official description above is the record.