Rusts's `std::process::Command` did not properly escape arguments of batch files on Windows (CVE-2024-24576)
Published Sources: SingCERT, CVE.org
What is affected, what to do
Rust is a programming language. The Rust Security Response WG was notified that the Rust standard library prior to version 1.77.2 did not properly escape arguments when invoking batch files (with the `bat` and `cmd` extensions) on Windows using the `Command`.
Update rust-lang Rust to version 1.77.2.
- Affected
- rust-lang Rust
lt *..1.77.2
- rust-lang Rust
- Fixed in
- rust-lang Rust
1.77.2
- rust-lang Rust
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: NVD, CVSS v3
10.0
CVSS v3
Severity Critical on the scale from 0 to 10.
Source: SingCERT, CVE.org
20.3 %
EPSS score
Elevated — model estimates 10-50% exploitation likelihood.
Source: FIRST EPSS, percentile 97.5
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- 130.91 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.
Read in glossary- no public PoC known
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“.
Read in glossary- 20.3 %
- Elevated — model estimates 10-50% exploitation likelihood.
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- 97.5
- 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- —
- Published
- CISA assessment (SSVC)
- Exploitation: proof of concept · automatable · Technical impact: total
- Source: CISA Vulnrichment, as of 26 February 2025
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, CWE-88
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- High technical severity: assess and remediate the vulnerability in vulnerability handling under Art. 21(2)(e) NIS2 and document the decision.
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- From 11.12.2027, Annex I Part II CRA requires manufacturers of affected products with digital elements to handle vulnerabilities without delay and provide security updates.
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
Rust is a programming language. The Rust Security Response WG was notified that the Rust standard library prior to version 1.77.2 did not properly escape arguments when invoking batch files (with the `bat` and `cmd` extensions) on Windows using the `Command`. An attacker able to control the arguments passed to the spawned process could execute arbitrary shell commands by bypassing the escaping. The severity of this vulnerability is critical for those who invoke batch files on Windows with untrusted arguments. No other platform or use is affected. The `Command::arg` and `Command::args` APIs state in their documentation that the arguments will be passed to the spawned process as-is, regardless of the content of the arguments, and will not be evaluated by a shell. This means it should be safe to pass untrusted input as an argument. On Windows, the implementation of this is more complex than other platforms, because the Windows API only provides a single string containing all the arguments to the spawned process, and it's up to the spawned process to split them. Most programs use the standard C run-time argv, which in practice results in a mostly consistent way arguments are splitted. One exception though is `cmd.exe` (used among other things to execute batch files), which has its own argument splitting logic. That forces the standard library to implement custom escaping for arguments passed to batch files. Unfortunately it was reported that our escaping logic was not thorough enough, and it was possible to pass malicious arguments that would result in arbitrary shell execution. Due to the complexity of `cmd.exe`, we didn't identify a solution that would correctly escape arguments in all cases. To maintain our API guarantees, we improved the robustness of the escaping code, and changed the `Command` API to return an `InvalidInput` error when it cannot safely escape an argument. This error will be emitted when spawning the process. The fix is included in Rust 1.77.2. Note that the new escaping logic for batch files errs on the conservative side, and could reject valid arguments. Those who implement the escaping themselves or only handle trusted inputs on Windows can also use the `CommandExt::raw_arg` method to bypass the standard library's escaping logic.
Source: CSA/SingCERT, NVD (NIST), cvelistv5
Affected products
The following versions are affected. Older releases of the same product line are also vulnerable unless stated otherwise.
| Affected versions | Fixed in | ||
|---|---|---|---|
| rust-lang | rust |
|
|
Vendors and products
Affected operating systems
| Other | fedoraproject | fedora | 38 |
| Other | fedoraproject | fedora | 39 |
| Other | fedoraproject | fedora | 40 |
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-78CWE-88Improper Neutralization of Argument Delimiters in a Command ('Argument Injection')
Base
The product constructs a string for a command to be executed by a separate component in another control sphere, but it does not properly delimit the intended arguments, options, or switches within that command string.
Entry at MITRE CWE-88
References & sources
- github.comrust-lang/rust/security/advisories/GHSA-q455-m56c-85mhx_refsource_CONFIRM, Mitigation, Vendor advisory
- doc.rust-lang.orgstd/io/enum.ErrorKind.htmlx_refsource_MISC, Technical description
- doc.rust-lang.orgstd/os/windows/process/trait.CommandExt.htmlx_refsource_MISC, Technical description
- doc.rust-lang.orgstd/process/struct.Command.htmlx_refsource_MISC, Technical description
- doc.rust-lang.orgstd/process/struct.Command.htmlx_refsource_MISC, Technical description
- doc.rust-lang.orgstd/process/struct.Command.htmlx_refsource_MISC, Technical description
- github.comrust-lang/rust/issuesx_refsource_MISC, Issue tracking
- rust-lang.orgpolicies/securityx_refsource_MISC, Technical description
- lists.fedoraproject.orgarchives/list/package-announce@lists.fedoraproject.org/message/…Mailing list, Vendor advisory
- lists.fedoraproject.orgarchives/list/package-announce@lists.fedoraproject.org/message/…Mailing list, Vendor advisory
- lists.fedoraproject.orgarchives/list/package-announce@lists.fedoraproject.org/message/…Mailing list, Vendor advisory
- openwall.comlists/oss-security/2024/04/09/16Mailing list, Third-party advisory
- kb.cert.orgvuls/id/123335Third-party advisory
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<a href="https://intel.neosec.eu/en/cve/CVE-2024-24576"><img src="https://intel.neosec.eu/badge/cve/CVE-2024-24576.svg?lang=en" alt="CVE-2024-24576 – NEOSEC Intel" height="20"></a>