CVE-2024-54661 Path traversal in socat
Critical 9.8
Published
Updated
Check this codebase for CVE-2024-54661 and fix it if it is affected.
What it is: CVE-2024-54661 is a critical path traversal vulnerability in dest-unreach socat, published on 4 Dec 2024. An attacker can exploit it over the internet without logging in, with no action from the victim.
Exploitation: There is no known exploitation of CVE-2024-54661 in the wild and no public exploit code.
Affected product: dest-unreach socat. 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-2024-54661/ (Markdown: https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2024-54661/index.md)
An attacker can exploit insecure temporary file handling in socat to execute arbitrary code or escalate privileges.
- Exploited in the wild
- Not known
- Login needed
- Not needed
- Attackable
- Over the internet
- Victim action needed
- Not needed
- Fix
- Available
What is CVE-2024-54661?
CVE-2024-54661 is a critical path traversal vulnerability in dest-unreach socat, published on 4 Dec 2024. An attacker can exploit it over the internet without logging in, with no action from the victim.
Official description
readline.sh in socat before1.8.0.2 relies on the /tmp/$USER/stderr2 file.
Weakness: CWE-61
Which versions are affected by CVE-2024-54661?
Linux distribution packages (27)
socat AlmaLinux:8 | All versions | 1.7.4.1-2.el8_10 |
socat AlmaLinux:9 | All versions | 1.7.4.1-6.el9_6.1 |
socat Red Hat:enterprise_linux:8::appstream | All versions | 0:1.7.4.1-2.el8_10 |
socat-debuginfo Red Hat:enterprise_linux:8::appstream | All versions | 0:1.7.4.1-2.el8_10 |
socat-debugsource Red Hat:enterprise_linux:8::appstream | All versions | 0:1.7.4.1-2.el8_10 |
socat Red Hat:enterprise_linux:9::appstream | All versions | 0:1.7.4.1-6.el9_6.1 |
socat-debuginfo Red Hat:enterprise_linux:9::appstream | All versions | 0:1.7.4.1-6.el9_6.1 |
socat-debugsource Red Hat:enterprise_linux:9::appstream | All versions | 0:1.7.4.1-6.el9_6.1 |
socat Red Hat:rhel_e4s:9.2::appstream | All versions | 0:1.7.4.1-5.el9_2.2 |
socat-debuginfo Red Hat:rhel_e4s:9.2::appstream | All versions | 0:1.7.4.1-5.el9_2.2 |
socat-debugsource Red Hat:rhel_e4s:9.2::appstream | All versions | 0:1.7.4.1-5.el9_2.2 |
socat Red Hat:rhel_eus:9.4::appstream | All versions | 0:1.7.4.1-5.el9_4.3 |
socat-debuginfo Red Hat:rhel_eus:9.4::appstream | All versions | 0:1.7.4.1-5.el9_4.3 |
socat-debugsource Red Hat:rhel_eus:9.4::appstream | All versions | 0:1.7.4.1-5.el9_4.3 |
socat Rocky Linux:8 | All versions | 0:1.7.4.1-2.el8_10 |
socat Rocky Linux:9 | All versions | 0:1.7.4.1-6.el9_6.1 |
socat SUSE:Linux Enterprise Micro 5.2 | All versions | 1.7.3.2-150000.6.3.1 |
socat SUSE:Linux Enterprise Micro 5.3 | All versions | 1.8.0.0-150400.14.6.1 |
socat SUSE:Linux Enterprise Micro 5.4 | All versions | 1.8.0.0-150400.14.6.1 |
socat SUSE:Linux Enterprise Micro 5.5 | All versions | 1.8.0.0-150400.14.6.1 |
socat SUSE:Linux Enterprise Module for Basesystem 15 SP5 | All versions | 1.8.0.0-150400.14.6.1 |
socat SUSE:Linux Enterprise Module for Basesystem 15 SP6 | All versions | 1.8.0.0-150600.20.6.1 |
socat SUSE:Linux Enterprise Server LTSS Extended Security 12 SP5 | All versions | 1.7.2.4-4.3.1 |
socat openSUSE:Leap 15.5 | All versions | 1.8.0.0-150400.14.6.1 |
socat openSUSE:Leap 15.6 | All versions | 1.8.0.0-150600.20.6.1 |
socat openSUSE:Leap Micro 5.5 | All versions | 1.8.0.0-150400.14.6.1 |
socat openSUSE:Tumbleweed | All versions | 1.8.0.2-1.1 |
How do I fix CVE-2024-54661?
Upgrade to a fixed version.
Upgrade, and resolve every user-supplied path against an allowed base folder before opening it. More about Path traversal.
Is CVE-2024-54661 being exploited?
There is no known exploitation of CVE-2024-54661 in the wild and no public exploit code.
Sources
Also known as ALSA-2025:10353, ALSA-2025:11042, AZL-53960, AZL-53978, BELL-CVE-2024-54661, CLSA-2026-1782140243 and 19 more.