CVE-2024-51966 in ArcGIS Server
Summary
by MITRE • 03/03/2025
There is a path traversal vulnerability in ESRI ArcGIS Server versions 10.9.1 thru 11.3. Successful exploitation may allow a remote authenticated attacker with admin privileges to traverse the file system to access files outside of the intended directory. There is no impact to integrity or availability due to the nature of the files that can be accessed, but there is a potential high impact to confidentiality.
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Analysis
by VulDB Data Team • 03/04/2025
The vulnerability identified as CVE-2024-51966 represents a critical path traversal flaw within ESRI ArcGIS Server software versions ranging from 10.9.1 through 11.3. This security weakness resides in the server's handling of file system operations and allows for improper input validation when processing user-supplied paths. The vulnerability specifically affects systems where administrative privileges are required for exploitation, indicating that attackers must first gain authenticated access to the system before leveraging this flaw. The nature of the vulnerability stems from inadequate sanitization of file path parameters, which enables attackers to manipulate directory traversal sequences such as ../ or ..\ to access files outside the intended directory boundaries. This flaw aligns with CWE-22, which catalogs path traversal vulnerabilities as a fundamental security issue in software systems that fail to properly validate or sanitize file system paths.
The operational impact of this vulnerability extends beyond simple data access and poses significant confidentiality risks to organizations relying on ArcGIS Server for spatial data management and geographic information services. Attackers who successfully exploit this vulnerability can potentially access sensitive configuration files, user credentials, database connection strings, and other privileged information stored within the server's file system. The restricted nature of exploitation requiring administrative privileges means that the attack surface is limited to environments where such access has already been compromised, but the potential data exposure remains severe given the types of files that can be accessed through this traversal mechanism. The vulnerability does not directly affect system integrity or availability, as the attacker cannot modify files or disrupt services, but the confidentiality breach can lead to unauthorized access to proprietary spatial data, organizational maps, and sensitive geographic information that forms the core of ArcGIS Server's functionality.
Organizations must implement immediate mitigations to address this vulnerability through proper input validation and path sanitization measures within their ArcGIS Server deployments. The recommended approach includes applying the latest security patches provided by ESRI, implementing strict file path validation controls, and establishing network segmentation to limit administrative access to only necessary personnel. Security controls should focus on enforcing proper access controls and monitoring for unusual file system access patterns that might indicate exploitation attempts. Additionally, organizations should conduct thorough security assessments of their ArcGIS Server configurations to identify potential additional attack vectors and ensure that administrative accounts are protected through multi-factor authentication and least privilege access principles. The vulnerability demonstrates the importance of secure coding practices in enterprise GIS platforms and highlights the need for regular security assessments of critical infrastructure systems. This issue also relates to ATT&CK technique T1566 which covers credential harvesting through social engineering, but specifically applies to the exploitation of administrative access to leverage path traversal vulnerabilities within enterprise software systems.