CriticalCVE-2024-1212

    LoadMaster Pre-Authenticated OS Command Injection (CVE-2024-1212)

    Published In CISA KEV since Sources: pwn.watch, CVE.org

    What is affected, what to do

    Unauthenticated remote attackers can access the system through the LoadMaster management interface, enabling arbitrary system command execution.

    The vulnerability is being actively exploited; treat it as a priority. Update Progress Software LoadMaster to version 7.2.48.10, Progress Software LoadMaster to version 7.2.54.8, Progress Software LoadMaster to version 7.2.59.2. Immediate actions, mitigation and detection rules are in the runbook below.

    Affected
    • Progress Software LoadMaster lt 7.2.48.1..7.2.48.10
    • Progress Software LoadMaster lt 7.2.54.0..7.2.54.8
    • Progress Software LoadMaster lt 7.2.55.0..7.2.59.2
    Fixed in
    • Progress Software LoadMaster 7.2.48.10
    • Progress Software LoadMaster 7.2.54.8
    • Progress Software LoadMaster 7.2.59.2

    Not sure whether and how you are affected? Ask a question about this vulnerability

    Metrics

    10.0

    Priority

    XIEM Effective CVSS: highest available CVSS rating from NVD and vendor data.

    Source: Vendor (CNA), CVSS v3

    10.0

    CVSS v3

    Severity Critical on the scale from 0 to 10.

    Source: pwn.watch, CVE.org

    95.4 %

    EPSS score

    High — model estimates ≥ 50% chance of real-world exploitation within 30 days.

    Source: FIRST EPSS, percentile 99.87

    Show all metrics
    Severity
    Critical
    Priority (0–325)

    The priority score is a consolidated metric that condenses several individual signals into a single, action-guiding ranking: technical severity (CVSS), exploitation likelihood (EPSS), known-exploited status (KEV) and the context of the affected asset. The aim is to answer the only truly important question in vulnerability management: what first?

    Read in glossary
    234.31 Methodology
    Exploit maturity

    An exploit is code or a technique that specifically uses a concrete vulnerability to force unintended behaviour — such as executing code or escalating privileges. It is the tool that turns a theoretical flaw into a practical attack.

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    actively exploited
    XIEM Effective CVSS

    XIEM® is the tiered managed-security operating model from NEOSEC and a registered trademark of NEOSEC GmbH. It extends classic SIEM — the central collection, normalisation and correlation of security-relevant events — with endpoint forensics, network visibility and deception technology, and consolidates them into three building tiers: Sentry, Orchestrate and Command.

    Read in glossary
    10.0 Methodology
    CVSS v3

    CVSS is the globally established, open standard for assessing the technical severity of a vulnerability on a scale from 0 to 10. It describes how easily a flaw can be exploited and what damage it can cause — but not how likely its actual exploitation is. CVSS and the complementary EPSS deliberately answer different questions.

    Read in glossary
    10.0
    EPSS score

    The EPSS score is the absolute model output for an individual vulnerability: the estimated probability of real-world exploitation within the next 30 days, expressed as a value between 0 and 1 (i.e. 0 % to 100 %). A score of 0.42 means „the model estimates a 42 % chance of real-world exploitation within 30 days“.

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    95.4 %
    High — model estimates ≥ 50% chance of real-world exploitation within 30 days.
    EPSS percentile

    The EPSS percentile is the relative position of a vulnerability within all EPSS-scored CVEs, expressed as a value between 0 and 1. A percentile of 0.90 means „this CVE has a higher EPSS score than 90 % of all other scored CVEs“. Unlike the EPSS score, it is not a probability — but a positioning within a ranking.

    Read in glossary
    99.87
    Critical — this CVE ranks in the top fifth of all CVEs scored today (rank ≥ 80%).
    KEV status

    The KEV catalogue is a list maintained by the US authority CISA of vulnerabilities for which active exploitation in the wild has been confirmed. It answers not the question „how severe?“ but „is it already being attacked?“ — thereby sharply prioritising patching.

    Read in glossary
    Actively exploited
    Published
    In CISA KEV since

    The KEV catalogue is a list maintained by the US authority CISA of vulnerabilities for which active exploitation in the wild has been confirmed. It answers not the question „how severe?“ but „is it already being attacked?“ — thereby sharply prioritising patching.

    Read in glossary
    CISA assessment (SSVC)
    Exploitation: active · automatable · Technical impact: total
    Source: CISA Vulnrichment, as of 19 November 2024
    CWE

    CWE is a catalogue of typical weakness types in software and hardware — such as flawed input validation, unsafe memory handling or poor authentication. Where a CVE names a concrete vulnerability in a concrete product, a CWE describes the underlying class of defect.

    Read in glossary
    CWE-78

    Response and mitigation

    Why act now?

    Prioritisation rationale

    This flaw gives an unauthenticated network attacker full takeover of a load balancer that typically fronts business-critical applications and handles TLS keys and decrypted traffic; public exploit code exists and it ranks among the CVEs most likely to be exploited. Attackers favour such edge appliances for initial access, credential theft and pivoting inward, precisely because they lack EDR coverage. CISA does not currently flag ransomware use, but that does not lower the urgency. Treat any LoadMaster with an internet-reachable WUI as an emergency (patch within hours); internal-only instances with tightly segmented management can follow the emergency patch window within a few days.

    1. Runbook step 1

      Immediate response (0-24 h)

      • Inventory and patch: Enumerate every LoadMaster instance (hardware, virtual, cloud) and check the firmware version in the WUI under "System Configuration → System Administration → Update Software". Upgrade affected builds to the fixed releases: 7.2.48.10 (7.2.48.x LTS branch), 7.2.54.8 (7.2.54.x branch) or 7.2.59.2 (7.2.55.0 through 7.2.59.x). Take a config backup first; on HA pairs update the passive node first.
      • Pull the management interface off the internet now: Block access to the Web User Interface (WUI) and API endpoints (/access/… path) from untrusted networks. Where WUI and virtual services share the same IP/port (commonly 443/TCP), configure a dedicated admin interface and bind the WUI only to it.
      • Assume compromise on exposed units: Because exploitation needs no credentials, treat any previously exposed instance as potentially compromised. Export and preserve system, audit and WUI logs before upgrades or reboots overwrite evidence.
      • Rotate secrets: For exposed instances, rotate the bal and all local WUI user passwords, API keys, SSH keys, TLS private keys for virtual services, and any LDAP/RADIUS bind accounts stored on the appliance.
      • Disable the API if unused: Turn off the RESTful API / "Enable API Interface" unless automation depends on it; restrict SSH to the management network.

    2. Runbook step 2

      Mitigation layers

      • Network segmentation: Make the WUI/API reachable only from a dedicated admin VLAN or via jump host/PAW. Upstream firewall example: permit tcp <admin-subnet> -> <LoadMaster-mgmt-IP>:443, drop everything else to the management IP. On the appliance, set "Admin Access → Allowed Networks" restrictively.
      • IPS/WAF signature: Block or alert on requests to /access/* whose Authorization: Basic header decodes to shell metacharacters (', ;, |, `, $(, &&). Suricata idea: http.uri; content:"/access"; http.header; content:"Authorization|3a| Basic" combined with base64_decode/base64_data and a PCRE for metacharacters.
      • Egress control: Restrict outbound traffic from the management interface to required destinations (NTP, DNS, syslog, update servers, LDAP) to break reverse shells and payload staging via curl/wget.
      • IAM/least privilege: Minimise local admin accounts, front the WUI with central authentication plus MFA (e.g. via RADIUS), shorten session timeouts.
      • Centralised logging: Enable remote syslog to the SIEM so evidence survives an appliance compromise.

    3. Runbook step 3

      Detection rules

      • Web/proxy logs in front of the LoadMaster: HTTP requests to /access or /access/* from external or non-admin source IPs, especially with unusually long or failing Basic-auth headers. KQL sketch: CommonSecurityLog | where RequestURL has "/access" and DestinationIP in (lm_mgmt_ips) and not(ipv4_is_in_any_range(SourceIP, admin_ranges)).
      • Network telemetry (Zeek/Suricata): New outbound connections from the LoadMaster management IP to unknown internet hosts, odd DNS lookups, or HTTP downloads with curl/* or Wget/* user agents — Zeek conn.log/http.log filtered on id.orig_h == <lm_ip> and destination outside the allowlist.
      • LoadMaster system/audit logs (via syslog): Unexpected config changes, new users, newly enabled API or SSH, login events with special characters in the username, and shell error strings (sh:, syntax error) adjacent to authentication attempts.
      • Integrity checks: Compare running processes and cron entries (via support shell/diagnostics) against a baseline; unknown files in /tmp or /var/tmp, persistence scripts or swapped certificates indicate post-exploitation.
      • Sigma shape: logsource: category: webserver · detection: uri|contains: '/access' AND src_ip|not in: admin_ranges · level: high.

    Detection rules

    No NEOSEC detection rule is available for this vulnerability yet.

    Classification under NIS2 and CRA

    Rule-based classification from exploitation status and severity. It does not replace a case-by-case assessment.

    NIS2

    NIS2 is EU Directive (EU) 2022/2555 to raise the level of cybersecurity across the Union. It substantially broadens obligations compared with the first NIS directive: more sectors, mandatory risk management, staged reporting duties and personal accountability of senior management.

    Read in glossary
    Actively exploited: treat the vulnerability as a priority in vulnerability handling under Art. 21(2)(e) NIS2. If it is exploited in your environment, check the reporting obligation under Art. 23 (early warning within 24 hours).
    CRA

    The CRA is EU Regulation (EU) 2024/2847 setting horizontal cybersecurity requirements for „products with digital elements“ — from industrial controllers and software to connected consumer devices. For the first time manufacturers must ensure security across the entire product lifecycle, handle vulnerabilities and provide security updates.

    Read in glossary
    Since 11.09.2026, manufacturers of affected products with digital elements must report actively exploited vulnerabilities under Art. 14 CRA, with an early warning within 24 hours via ENISA's single reporting platform.
    ISO/IEC 27001

    ISO/IEC 27001 is the internationally leading standard for an information security management system (ISMS). It describes a risk-based, process-oriented framework to systematically plan, implement, review and improve information security.

    Read in glossary
    Control A.8.8, management of technical vulnerabilities: assess relevance to your systems, plan remediation and keep evidence.

    Description

    Unauthenticated remote attackers can access the system through the LoadMaster management interface, enabling arbitrary system command execution.

    Source: pwn.watch, cvelistv5, CISA KEV Catalog, NVD (NIST), CVE.org (MITRE)

    Affected products

    The following versions are affected. Older releases of the same product line are also vulnerable unless stated otherwise.

    Affected products
    Affected versionsFixed in
    Progress SoftwareLoadMaster
    • 7.2.55.0 – < 7.2.59.2
    • 7.2.48.1 – < 7.2.48.10
    • 7.2.54.0 – < 7.2.54.8
    • 7.2.59.2
    • 7.2.48.10
    • 7.2.54.8

    Vendors and products

    Affected operating systems

    Affected operating systems
    Otherprogressloadmaster—

    Weakness classes (CWE)

    • CWE-78Improper Neutralization of Special Elements used in an OS Command ('OS Command Injection')

      Base

      The product constructs all or part of an OS command using externally-influenced input from an upstream component, but it does not neutralize or incorrectly neutralizes special elements that could modify the intended OS command when it is sent to a downstream component.

      Entry at MITRE CWE-78

    Public exploit references

    Publicly reported proof-of-concepts, exploit modules and detection templates for this vulnerability. NEOSEC links to the original sources only and does not provide any exploit code.

    Public exploit references
    CISA KEV CatalogCISA Known Exploited Vulnerability (opens in a new tab)cisa.govactively exploited

    References & sources

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