# CVE-2024-53260: Course Roster vulnerable to CSV Injection in Autolab

> Attackers can inject spreadsheet formulas into user names, causing data leakage when instructors download and open the course roster.

- **Severity:** Medium 6.8 (`CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:L/PR:L/UI:R/S:C/C:H/I:N/A:N`)
- **Exploited in the wild:** Not known
- **Login needed:** Any signed-in user
- **Attackable:** Over the internet
- **Victim action needed:** A user has to click or open something
- **Fix available:** No
- **Published:** 27 Nov 2024
- **Updated:** 29 Nov 2024
- **Also known as:** GHSA-cqxx-pfmh-h43g

## What is CVE-2024-53260?

CVE-2024-53260 is a medium-severity vulnerability in Autolab, published on 27 Nov 2024. Any signed-in user can exploit it over the network, and only if a user opens a file or follows a link.

### Official description

Autolab is a course management service that enables auto-graded programming assignments. A user can modify their first and or last name to include a valid excel / spreadsheet formula. When an instructor downloads their course's roster and opens, this name will then be evaluated as a formula. This could lead to leakage of information of students in the course roster by sending the data to a remote endpoint. This issue has been patched in the source code repository and the fix is expected to be released in the next version. Users are advised to manually patch their systems or to wait for the next release. There are no known workarounds for this vulnerability.

Weakness: CWE-1236 (Improper Neutralization of Formula Elements in a CSV File)

## Which versions are affected by CVE-2024-53260?

It affects 1 product.


Products: Autolabproject Autolab.

## How do I fix CVE-2024-53260?

No fix has been published for CVE-2024-53260 yet. Limit exposure of the affected software until one is available.

## Is CVE-2024-53260 being exploited?

There is no known exploitation of CVE-2024-53260 in the wild and no public exploit code.

## Other vulnerabilities in Autolab

- [CVE-2022-41955](https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2022-41955/): Autolab is vulnerable to remote code execution (RCE) via MOSS functionality (high 8.8)
- [CVE-2022-0936](https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2022-0936/): Cross-site Scripting (XSS) - Stored in autolab/autolab (high 7.6)
- [CVE-2024-53258](https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2024-53258/): download_all_submissions allows student to download another student's submissions in Autolab (high 7.1)
- [CVE-2024-49376](https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2024-49376/): Autolab Has Misconfigured Reset Password Permissions (high 7.1)
- [CVE-2023-32317](https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2023-32317/): Autolab tar slip in cheat checker functionality (`GHSL-2023-082`) (medium 6.7)

## Fix prompt for AI coding agents

```text
Check this codebase for CVE-2024-53260 and fix it if it is affected.

What it is: CVE-2024-53260 is a medium-severity vulnerability in Autolab, published on 27 Nov 2024. Any signed-in user can exploit it over the network, and only if a user opens a file or follows a link.
Exploitation: There is no known exploitation of CVE-2024-53260 in the wild and no public exploit code.

Affected product: Autolab. 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-2024-53260/ (Markdown: https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2024-53260/index.md)
```

## Sources

- CVE record: https://www.cve.org/CVERecord?id=CVE-2024-53260
- NVD: https://nvd.nist.gov/vuln/detail/CVE-2024-53260
- OSV: https://osv.dev/vulnerability/CVE-2024-53260

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From sbomify Insights: https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2024-53260/
Summaries are generated and may contain mistakes; the official description above is the record.