# CVE-2024-5651: Fence-agents-remediation: fence agent command line options leads to remote code execution

> A low-privilege user can execute arbitrary commands via fence agent arguments, leading to remote code execution and cluster-admin privilege escalation.

- **Severity:** High 8.8 (`CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:L/PR:L/UI:N/S:U/C:H/I:H/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:** 12 Aug 2024
- **Updated:** 25 Feb 2026
- **Also known as:** GHSA-76qm-c9j2-wm6v

## What is CVE-2024-5651?

CVE-2024-5651 is a high-severity command injection vulnerability in Red Hat Fence Agents Remediation 0.4 for RHEL 8, published on 12 Aug 2024. Any signed-in user can exploit it over the network, with no action from the victim.

### Official description

A flaw was found in the Fence Agents Remediation operator. This vulnerability can allow a Remote Code Execution (RCE) primitive by supplying an arbitrary command to execute in the --ssh-path/--telnet-path arguments. A low-privilege user, for example, a user with developer access, can create a specially crafted FenceAgentsRemediation for a fence agent supporting  --ssh-path/--telnet-path arguments to execute arbitrary commands on the operator's pod. This RCE leads to a privilege escalation, first as the service account running the operator, then to another service account with cluster-admin privileges.

Weakness: CWE-94 (Improper Control of Generation of Code)

## Which versions are affected by CVE-2024-5651?


## How do I fix CVE-2024-5651?

No fix has been published for CVE-2024-5651 yet. Limit exposure of the affected software until one is available.

## Is CVE-2024-5651 being exploited?

There is no known exploitation of CVE-2024-5651 in the wild and no public exploit code.

## Fix prompt for AI coding agents

```text
Check this codebase for CVE-2024-5651 and fix it if it is affected.

What it is: CVE-2024-5651 is a high-severity command injection vulnerability in Red Hat Fence Agents Remediation 0.4 for RHEL 8, published on 12 Aug 2024. Any signed-in user can exploit it over the network, with no action from the victim.
Exploitation: There is no known exploitation of CVE-2024-5651 in the wild and no public exploit code.

Affected product: Red Hat Fence Agents Remediation 0.4 for RHEL 8. 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-2024-5651/ (Markdown: https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2024-5651/index.md)
```

## Sources

- CVE record: https://www.cve.org/CVERecord?id=CVE-2024-5651
- NVD: https://nvd.nist.gov/vuln/detail/CVE-2024-5651
- OSV: https://osv.dev/vulnerability/CVE-2024-5651

---
From sbomify Insights: https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2024-5651/
Summaries are generated and may contain mistakes; the official description above is the record.