CVE-2024-7608

Executive Summary

CVE-2024-7608 is a path traversal vulnerability affecting a family of products abbreviated as NX, EX, FX, AX, IVX, and CMS, which correspond to a suite of network management or surveillance platforms produced by an unknown vendor. An authenticated user can exploit a directory traversal flaw to access restricted files on the underlying operating system, bypassing application-level access controls designed to isolate sensitive files. The vulnerability carries a CVSS base score of 5.9 (Medium severity) and has a low probability of exploitation in the wild as indicated by an EPSS score of 0.00013. Enterprises operating these affected products should consider the medium risk posed by privilege escalation to file disclosure, potentially leading to credential theft and lateral movement.

Technical Analysis

The vulnerability is classified as a path traversal issue (commonly associated with CWE-22 - Improper Limitation of a Pathname to a Restricted Directory), although CWE_ID is currently listed as unknown. The root cause is an insufficient sanitization of user-supplied file path parameters within an authenticated application interface. The attack mechanism relies on the application's failure to canonicalize and validate file path inputs against a defined root directory before performing filesystem operations.

The affected products (NX, EX, FX, AX, IVX, CMS) appear to be network-connected appliances or management systems that expose web-based administration panels or API endpoints to authenticated users. These systems typically store configuration files, credentials, cryptographic keys, and system logs on a local filesystem. The path traversal flaw allows a legitimate (but potentially low-privileged) authenticated user to inject traversal sequences such as ../, ..%2f, or URL-encoded variants to escape the application's designated file-serving directory and read arbitrary files from the host OS.

From a code-level perspective, the vulnerability likely emerges from a function such as:

// Vulnerable pseudocode
$file = $_GET['file'];
$content = file_get_contents("/var/www/app/data/" . $file);

Absent proper filtering of ../ sequences and canonical path validation, the concatenated path resolves to any file on the system. Common targeted files include:

• /etc/passwd or /etc/shadow — user account enumeration
• Application configuration files containing database credentials
• SSL private keys and certificates
• Backup archives containing sensitive data
• Environment files (*.env) with API keys and tokens

Successful exploitation results in confidentiality loss (file disclosure), which can be chained with other attacks to achieve privilege escalation. The attack surface is limited to authenticated users, mitigating the severity — reflected in the CVSS score of 5.9. The CVSS vector has not been fully published, but based on the semantics, it likely involves network attack vector, low attack complexity, low privileges required, no user interaction, and high confidentiality impact with no integrity or availability impact.

No proof-of-concept exploit has been publicly released, and no Nuclei template exists. However, path traversal in authenticated web applications is a well-documented attack class with numerous open-source tools (e.g., Burp Suite Intruder, ffuf) capable of automating payload delivery.

Exploitation Scenarios

The attack chain for CVE-2024-7608 proceeds as follows for an authenticated user with minimum privileges:

1. Reconnaissance / Target Identification

   • Attacker identifies internet-facing instances of the affected products using Shodan or Censys. Search queries such as http.title:"NX" or product:"CMS" port:443 reveal exposed management interfaces.
   • Attacker enumerates valid user accounts via default credentials, credential stuffing (previously leaked passwords), or social engineering to obtain legitimate credentials for a low-privileged account.

2. Authentication and Interface Discovery

   • The attacker logs into the web portal using the obtained credentials, authenticating to the NX/EX/FX/AX/IVX/CMS management console.
   • The attacker enumerates application features that accept file parameters — e.g., report generation endpoints, log download functions, configuration export utilities, or template loaders. Common patterns include GET/POST parameters like file=, path=, filename=, download=, or template=.

3. Weaponization / Path Traversal Payload

   • The attacker crafts a request intercepting the file-serving functionality with a traversal payload. For example, on an endpoint serving log files:

     GET /download?file=../../../etc/passwd HTTP/1.1
     Host: target.example.com
     Cookie: session=<valid_session>
     

   • URL encoding variants bypass naive filters: ..%2f..%2f..%2fetc%2fpasswd or double encoding ..%252f..%252f.
   • The attacker checks for canonicalization weaknesses by testing multiple traversal depths (../../../../etc/passwd) and OS variants (..\..\..\Windows\win.ini for Windows hosts).

4. Payload Execution / File Retrieval

   • The application resolves the path and serves the contents of /etc/passwd (or C:\Windows\System32\config\SAM on Windows) directly in the HTTP response.
   • The attacker saves the response, confirming successful traversal. Repeated requests retrieve:
     • Database credentials from application config files (e.g., db.php, application.properties)
     • SSH keys from /root/.ssh/id_rsa or /home/*/.ssh/authorized_keys
     • Cloud provider metadata via file-based credential stores (e.g., AWS keys in .aws/credentials)

5. Post-Exploitation Impact

   • Using exfiltrated credentials, the attacker accesses backend databases, pivots to adjacent internal networks, or authenticates to other services using the same credentials (password reuse).
   • If SSL private keys are extracted, the attacker intercepts or impersonates encrypted communications.
   • The attacker establishes persistence by modifying application files (if write access is also discovered) or creating rogue accounts using extracted administrative credentials.

No public PoC has been released, but the traversal class is trivially executable with common tools. The low CVSS confidentiality impact does not reflect the downstream effect of credential exfiltration, which frequently leads to full system compromise.

Impact Assessment

The business impact of CVE-2024-7608 centers on confidentiality. The CVSS 5.9 score reflects a medium severity with a likely vector of AV:N/AC:L/PR:L/UI:N/S:U/C:H/I:N/A:N — network attack vector, low complexity, low privilege requirement, no user interaction, and high confidentiality impact. The integrity and availability impact are nil, bounding the direct damage to data disclosure.

Affected Systems: All instances of the NX, EX, FX, AX, IVX, and CMS product lines that expose authenticated file-serving functionality. These are likely deployed as:

• Building or facility management controllers
• Video surveillance management systems (CMS)
• Industrial IoT gateway appliances
• Network access control (NX/EX) platforms

Blast Radius: The disclosed files vary by appliance. At minimum, OS user lists and application configuration are exposed. In worst-case deployments where database credentials or SSH keys reside in readable paths, the attack vector escalates to full system compromise and lateral movement within the enterprise network. If CMS (Content Management System variant) products serve multi-tenant environments, a single compromised tenant account reveals shared infrastructure secrets.

EPSS Context: The EPSS score of 0.00013 (approximately 0.013% probability) indicates exploitation is currently rare in the wild. This is consistent with the unknown vendor, lack of public PoC, and the authentication requirement. However, path traversal remains a popular bug class among advanced persistent threat actors who opportunistically target edge devices. The lack of CISA KEV listing confirms no confirmed in-the-wild exploitation.

Chained Attack Scenarios:

• Extracted database credentials enable SQL injection-free direct DB access (e.g., phpMyAdmin exposed alongside).
• Extracted service accounts grant footholds in identity provider backends (AD, LDAP).
• Exfiltrated device certificates enable MITM on encrypted management traffic.

The overall risk posture for enterprises is "handle with medium urgency but not emergency." Authentication-gated traversal is less immediately dangerous than unauth RCE but warrants prompt patching due to the credential-exfiltration cascade.

Detection Guidance

Detection of CVE-2024-7608 centers on identifying anomalous path traversal patterns in HTTP requests and filesystem access anomalies on the affected appliances. The following rules target the web layer and host layer.

Sigma Rule

title: Path Traversal Attempt in NX/EX/FX/AX/IVX/CMS Web Interface
id: c1a2b3c4-d5e6-4f7a-8b9c-0d1e2f3a4b5c
status: experimental
description: Detects path traversal attempts targeting file-serving endpoints in authenticatated product web interfaces.
references:
    - https://nvd.nist.gov/vuln/detail/CVE-2024-7608
tags:
    - attack.initial_access
    - attack.t1190
logsource:
    category: webserver
    product: apache
    definition: 'Custom log source for affected appliance web gateways'
detection:
    selection_traversal_seq:
        c-uri|contains:
            - '../'
            - '..%2f'
            - '..%252f'
            - '..%5c'
            - '..%2525'
    selection_file_params:
        c-uri|contains:
            - 'file='
            - 'path='
            - 'download='
            - 'template='
            - 'filename='
    selection_auth_required:
        sc-status: 200
    condition: selection_traversal_seq and selection_file_params and selection_auth_required
falsepositives:
    - Legitimate recursive file listing functionality (rare)
    - Misconfigured application-validated relative paths
level: high

YARA Rule

rule CVE_2024_7608_PathTraversal_Payloads
{
    meta:
        author = "Valtersit Threat Intel"
        description = "Detects path traversal payloads targeting NX/EX/FX/AX/IVX/CMS products"
        reference = "https://nvd.nist.gov/vuln/detail/CVE-2024-7608"
        date = "2024-01-15"
        cve = "CVE-2024-7608"
    strings:
        $traversal1 = "../"
        $traversal2 = "..\\"
        $encoded_slash = "..%2f"
        $double_encode = "..%252f"
        $encoded_backslash = "..%5c"
        $passwd_traget = "/etc/passwd"
        $sam_target = "WINDOWS\\system32\\config\\sam"
        $winini_target = "win.ini"
        $shadow_target = "/etc/shadow"
        $env_target = ".env"
        $ssh_key = "/.ssh/id_rsa"
    condition:
        (any of ($traversal*)) and
        (any of ($encoded*) or any of ($passwd_traget, $sam_target, $winini_target, $shadow_target, $env_target, $ssh_key))
}

Suricata IDS Rule

alert http any any -> $HOME_NET any (
    msg:"CVE-2024-7608 Path Traversal in Authenticated NX/EX/FX/AX/IVX/CMS Access";
    content:"GET";
    http_method;
    content:"../";
    http_uri;
    content:"download=";
    http_uri;
    urilen:>20;
    classtype:attempted-recon;
    reference:cve,2024-7608;
    sid:20247608;
    rev:1;
    metadata:attack_target Web_Server;
    metadata:created_at 2024-01-15;
    metadata:signature_severity Major;
   )

Elastic Detection

sequence by host.name
  [ http where process.name == "httpd*" and
    url.path like "*download*" and
    (url.full like "*../*" or url.full like "*..%2f*" or url.full like "*..%5c*") and
    url.full like "*/etc/*" ] with maxspan=1m

Splunk SPL Query

index=web sourcetype=access_combined
| where match(uri, "\.\.%2f|\.\./|\.\.%5c") 
| where match(uri, "(file|path|download|template|filename)=")
| eval traversal_success = case(match(status, "200"), "success", status >= 400, "blocked")
| table _time, src_ip, user, uri, status, traversal_success
| sort -_time
| stats count by src_ip, traversal_success

Wazuh OSSEC Rule

<rule id="100208" level="12">
  <decoded_as>json</decoded_as>
  <field name="url">\.\.(%2f|/|%5c)</field>
  <field name="action">allow</field>
  <field name="data.vendor">NX|EX|FX|AX|IVX|CMS</field>
  <description>CVE-2024-7608: Path traversal detected in authenticated web request.</description>
  <mitre>
    <id>T1190</id>
  </mitre>
  <group>web_attack,path_traversal,cve_2024_7608</group>
</rule>

Mitigation & Patch Guidance

Patch Confidence: 2/4 — CLAIMED — a single source claims a patch exists, but it has not been independently confirmed. The NVD description does not provide version information or a fixed version string, which complicates exact patch enumeration. Enterprises should verify patch availability from their product vendor directly.

1. Immediate Mitigations (if patch unavailable or unverified):

   • Restrict network access to the affected management interfaces. Place NX/EX/FX/AX/IVX/CMS appliances behind a VPN or bastion host, disallowing direct internet exposure.
   • Enforce IP allowlisting on the web management port (typically 80/443) to limit the source pool of authenticated users.
   • Disable or restrict file-download/viewer modules if the product allows disabling specific features.
   • Implement an application-layer WAF rule to block GET/POST requests containing ../, ..%2f, or ..%5c in query parameters.

2. Patch / Upgrade Steps:

   • Contact the product vendor's support portal or security advisory feed to request the specific patch/update for CVE-2024-7608. Ask for the fixed version number and release notes.
   • Apply the vendor-supplied firmware or software update to a staging environment first and validate file traversal attempts fail.
   • Upon successful validation, deploy the update to production during a maintenance window. Re-run the detection rules to confirm blocking.

3. Long-Term Hardening:

   • Change all default credentials on affected devices to strong, unique passwords; enforce MFA on the management interface if supported.
   • Rotate any secrets (DB passwords, API keys, SSH keys) that may have been exposed if the appliance was internet-facing prior to mitigation.
   • Monitor web access logs for traversal patterns using the provided Sigma/SPL rules, tuned to the appliance's normal traffic baseline.
   • Implement a vulnerability management cadence to prioritize patching of CWE-22 weaknesses in all network appliances.
   • Segment appliance management networks from business-critical zones to limit the blast radius of any residual exposure.

References

1. NVD Entry: https://nvd.nist.gov/vuln/detail/CVE-2024-7608 — Official CVE description and CVSS metrics (CVSS 5.9, Medium severity).
2. CISA Known Exploited Vulnerabilities Catalog (KEV): https://www.cisa.gov/known-exploited-vulnerabilities-catalog — Confirms CVE-2024-7608 is NOT listed, no in-the-wild exploitation confirmed.
3. FIRST EPSS API Feed: https://www.first.org/epss/ — EPSS score 0.00013, indicating negligible current exploitation probability.
4. OWASP Path Traversal Cheat Sheet: https://owasp.org/www-community/attacks/Path_Traversal — Background on traversal class, payload variations, and prevention.
5. MITRE ATT&CK — T1190 Exploit Public-Facing Application: https://attack.mitre.org/techniques/T1190/ — Technique mapping for this vulnerability class.