# CVE-2024-55653: pwndoc's UnhandledPromiseRejection on audits causes Denial of Service (DoS)

> An authenticated user can crash the PwnDoc backend by triggering an unhandled promise rejection, causing a denial of service for all users.

- **Severity:** Medium 6.5 (`CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:L/PR:L/UI:N/S:U/C:N/I:N/A:H`)
- **Exploited in the wild:** Not known
- **Login needed:** Any signed-in user
- **Attackable:** Over the internet
- **Victim action needed:** Not needed
- **Fix available:** No
- **Published:** 10 Dec 2024
- **Updated:** 11 Dec 2024
- **Also known as:** GHSA-ggqg-3f7v-c8rc

## What is CVE-2024-55653?

CVE-2024-55653 is a medium-severity denial of service vulnerability in pwndoc, published on 10 Dec 2024. Any signed-in user can exploit it over the network, with no action from the victim.

### Official description

PwnDoc is a penetration test report generator. In versions up to and including 0.5.3, an authenticated user is able to crash the backend by raising a `UnhandledPromiseRejection` on audits which exits the backend. The user doesn't need to know the audit id, since a bad audit id will also raise the rejection. With the backend being unresponsive, the whole application becomes unusable for all users of the application. As of time of publication, no known patches are available.

Weakness: CWE-20 (Improper Input Validation)

## Which versions are affected by CVE-2024-55653?

It affects 1 product.


Products: Pwndoc Project Pwndoc.

## How do I fix CVE-2024-55653?

No fix has been published for CVE-2024-55653 yet. Limit exposure of the affected software until one is available.

## Is CVE-2024-55653 being exploited?

It is not confirmed as exploited in the wild, but public exploit code for CVE-2024-55653 exists.

## Other vulnerabilities in pwndoc

- [CVE-2022-45771](https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2022-45771/): File upload in n/a (high 8.8)
- [CVE-2021-31590](https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2021-31590/): Auth bypass in n/a (high 8.8)
- [CVE-2024-55602](https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2024-55602/): PenDoc vulnerable to Arbitrary File Read on updating and downloading templates using Path Traversal (high 7.6)
- [CVE-2025-23044](https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2025-23044/): Cross-Site Request Forgery (CSRF) allows creating admin account with POST request (medium 6.8)
- [CVE-2025-27410](https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2025-27410/): PwnDoc Arbitrary File Write to RCE using Path Traversal in backup restore as admin (medium 6.5)

## Fix prompt for AI coding agents

```text
Check this codebase for CVE-2024-55653 and fix it if it is affected.

What it is: CVE-2024-55653 is a medium-severity denial of service vulnerability in pwndoc, published on 10 Dec 2024. Any signed-in user can exploit it over the network, with no action from the victim.
Exploitation: It is not confirmed as exploited in the wild, but public exploit code for CVE-2024-55653 exists.

Affected product: pwndoc. 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-2024-55653/ (Markdown: https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2024-55653/index.md)
```

## Sources

- CVE record: https://www.cve.org/CVERecord?id=CVE-2024-55653
- NVD: https://nvd.nist.gov/vuln/detail/CVE-2024-55653
- OSV: https://osv.dev/vulnerability/CVE-2024-55653

---
From sbomify Insights: https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2024-55653/
Summaries are generated and may contain mistakes; the official description above is the record.