CVE-2024-2947 in Cockpit
Summary
by MITRE • 03/28/2024
A flaw was found in Cockpit. Deleting a sosreport with a crafted name via the Cockpit web interface can lead to a command injection vulnerability, resulting in privilege escalation. This issue affects Cockpit versions 270 and newer.
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Analysis
by VulDB Data Team • 06/18/2025
The vulnerability identified as CVE-2024-2947 represents a critical command injection flaw within the Cockpit web interface administration tool that enables unauthorized privilege escalation. This security weakness specifically manifests when users attempt to delete sosreports through the graphical interface, where crafted malicious names can be exploited to execute arbitrary commands with elevated privileges. The vulnerability impacts Cockpit versions 270 and all subsequent releases, indicating a persistent flaw that has remained unaddressed across multiple iterations of the software.
The technical exploitation of this vulnerability occurs through improper input validation and sanitization within the sosreport deletion functionality. When a user submits a crafted name for deletion, the system fails to properly escape or validate the input before incorporating it into shell commands. This creates an environment where maliciously constructed filenames can be interpreted as command sequences, allowing attackers to inject arbitrary shell commands that execute with the privileges of the Cockpit process. The flaw directly maps to CWE-78, which describes improper neutralization of special elements used in OS commands, and CWE-20, which covers improper input validation in software development.
The operational impact of this vulnerability extends beyond simple command execution to encompass full system compromise through privilege escalation. An attacker who can access the Cockpit web interface and perform sosreport deletion operations can leverage this flaw to execute commands with root privileges, potentially gaining complete control over the affected system. This vulnerability particularly affects enterprise environments where Cockpit serves as a primary management interface for Linux systems, as it undermines the security boundaries typically established by the application's access controls. The attack vector requires minimal privileges to initiate, making it especially dangerous in environments where Cockpit is accessible to multiple users or where default configurations provide broad access.
Mitigation strategies for CVE-2024-2947 should prioritize immediate patching of affected Cockpit versions to address the underlying command injection vulnerability. Organizations must implement proper input validation and sanitization measures to prevent malicious strings from being processed as command arguments. The principle of least privilege should be enforced by restricting sosreport deletion capabilities to only authorized administrative users. Additionally, network segmentation and access controls should be strengthened to limit exposure of Cockpit interfaces to trusted networks only. Security monitoring should include detection of anomalous command execution patterns and unusual sosreport deletion activities. This vulnerability aligns with ATT&CK technique T1059.001 for command and scripting interpreter, specifically shell scripting, and T1548.001 for abuse of privileges through privilege escalation techniques. Organizations should also consider implementing web application firewalls and input validation layers to provide additional defense in depth against similar injection vulnerabilities. The remediation process must include thorough testing of patched versions to ensure that the fix does not introduce regressions in legitimate sosreport handling functionality while maintaining the security posture of the overall system infrastructure.