Loading vulnerability…
CVE-2024-20338 is a local privilege escalation vulnerability in the ISE Posture (System Scan) module of Cisco Secure Client for Linux. The flaw is caused by the use of an uncontrolled search path element when loading a library. An authenticated local attacker can place a malicious shared library in a specific filesystem directory and, if an administrator restarts the affected process, cause the process to load attacker-controlled code. Successful exploitation results in arbitrary code execution with root privileges on the affected device.
Mallory correlates every CVE against your assets, your vendors, and active adversary campaigns. Know which vulnerabilities matter for you, not just which ones are loud.
What it means. What to do now. Patch path, mitigations, and the assume-compromise checklist.
What an attacker gets, and what they’ve been doing with it.
If you can’t patch tonight, do this now.
Patch, then assume compromise.
1 valid exploit after Mallory filtered fakes, detection scripts, and README-only repos.
This repository provides a proof-of-concept (POC) exploit for CVE-2024-20338, targeting Cisco ISE Posture version 4.10.06079 on Linux systems. The main exploit script, 'CVE-2024-20338.sh', checks for the presence of the vulnerable Cisco ISE Posture module and verifies the version by searching for a specific string in the binary. If the target is vulnerable, the script prepares a directory structure and writes a malicious C source file ('fake.c') that, when compiled and loaded as a shared library, creates a setuid root shell at '/.rootsh'. The script then compiles this library and waits for the vulnerable process to load it, at which point the root shell is created. Supporting files include 'cleanup.sh' (removes the malicious directory), 'example-app-exploit.sh' (demonstrates the exploit in a test environment), and simple C files ('fake.c', 'lib.c', 'vulnerable.c') for demonstration and testing. The exploit requires local access to the target system and the ability to execute shell scripts and compile code. The main attack vector is local privilege escalation via a vulnerable library loading mechanism. Key fingerprintable endpoints include the Cisco ISE binary path, the malicious library directory, and the created root shell.
Products and vendors Mallory has correlated with this vulnerability. Open in Mallory to drill down to specific CPE configurations and version ranges.
Vendor-confirmed product mapping. Mallory continuously reconciles this list against your asset inventory.
1 sources tracked across advisories and community write-ups. News coverage will land here when it surfaces.
No news coverage yet. Advisories and community discussion only.
Query your assets running an affected version, and investigate the blast radius.
Every observed campaign linking this CVE to a named adversary.
Malware families riding this exploit, with evidence and IOCs.
YARA, Sigma, Snort, and vendor rules, auto-deployed to your SIEM.
Cross-references every affected SKU, including bundled OEM variants.
Community discussion across Reddit, Mastodon, and other social sources.