CVE-2024-1048 | Grub2: grub2-set-bootflag can be abused by local (pseudo-)users

A flaw was found in the grub2-set-bootflag utility of grub2. After the fix of CVE-2019-14865, grub2-set-bootflag will create a temporary file with the new grubenv content and rename it to the original grubenv file. If the program is killed before the rename operation, the temporary file will not be removed and may fill the filesystem when invoked multiple times, resulting in a filesystem out of free inodes or blocks.

Published: 2024-02-06 Last update: 2024-11-21 Assigner: [email protected] Source: [email protected]
NVD Status：Modified，CVE State: published
View at NVD, CVE.org, EUVD

CVE-2024-1048 is rated Low Risk (19.9/100): CVSS Low severity, with low exploitation likelihood (EPSS 0.27%). Low composite risk—no urgent action required; patch on your normal maintenance cycle and revisit priority if CVSS or EPSS increases.

Risk is dynamic; we continuously reassess and refresh what is shown on this page as upstream context changes.

Exploit prediction scoring system (EPSS) score for CVE-2024-1048

EPSS lead: Daily EPSS estimates relative likelihood of exploitation; percentile ranks this CVE among scored vulnerabilities (higher = more severe relative rank).

# Date Old EPSS score New EPSS score Delta (New - Old)
1 2026-06-15 0.01% 0.27% +0.26%
2 2025-11-21 0.07% 0.01% -0.06%
3 2025-11-18 — 0.07% —

Full EPSS history (6 records total)

Common vulnerability scoring system (CVSS) metrics for CVE-2024-1048

CVSS metrics for this CVE.

Base score Version Severity Vector Exploitability Impact Score source
3.3 3.1 LOW
CVSS:3.1/AV:L/AC:L/PR:L/UI:N/S:U/C:N/I:N/A:L Click to expand
Attack vector (AV:L)
They already need access on the box, or another person has to do something wrong; it’s not a remote drive-by.
Attack complexity (AC:L)
Once they can reach the bug, pulling it off is straightforward—no weird race conditions or rare setup.
Privileges required (PR:L)
A normal user session is enough; they don’t have to be admin.
User interaction (UI:N)
Nobody has to click “OK” or open a trap file; it can work without a victim helping.
Scope (S:U)
Damage stays in the same “trust bubble” as the broken component—no big spill into unrelated systems.
Confidentiality (C:N)
Doesn’t really leak secrets in a meaningful way.
Integrity (I:N)
Data isn’t meaningfully altered or forged.
Availability (A:L)
Might cause slowdowns, glitches, or partial disruption—not a full brick.
 1.8 1.4 [email protected]
3.3 3.1 LOW
CVSS:3.1/AV:L/AC:L/PR:L/UI:N/S:U/C:N/I:N/A:L Click to expand
Attack vector (AV:L)
They already need access on the box, or another person has to do something wrong; it’s not a remote drive-by.
Attack complexity (AC:L)
Once they can reach the bug, pulling it off is straightforward—no weird race conditions or rare setup.
Privileges required (PR:L)
A normal user session is enough; they don’t have to be admin.
User interaction (UI:N)
Nobody has to click “OK” or open a trap file; it can work without a victim helping.
Scope (S:U)
Damage stays in the same “trust bubble” as the broken component—no big spill into unrelated systems.
Confidentiality (C:N)
Doesn’t really leak secrets in a meaningful way.
Integrity (I:N)
Data isn’t meaningfully altered or forged.
Availability (A:L)
Might cause slowdowns, glitches, or partial disruption—not a full brick.
 1.8 1.4 [email protected]

Weakness enumeration for CVE-2024-1048

OS Trackers for CVE-2024-1048

vendor priority summary link
debian unimportant CVE-2024-1048 unimportant priority: Debian including 1 source packages (grub2), 5 status rows across 5 suites (bookworm, bullseye, forky, sid, trixie): resolved 5. https://security-tracker.debian.org/tracker/CVE-2024-1048
redhat medium — https://access.redhat.com/security/cve/CVE-2024-1048
suse low CVE-2024-1048 severity low: SUSE including 34 source package names (grub2, grub2-arm64-efi, …), 300 product×package rows across 43 product lines (SUSE CaaS Platform 4.0, SUSE Enterprise Storage 7.1, … (43 product lines)): Known Not Affected 277, Fixed 23. https://www.suse.com/security/cve/CVE-2024-1048/
ubuntu medium CVE-2024-1048 medium priority: Ubuntu including 3 source packages (grub2, grub2-signed, grub2-unsigned), 27 status rows across 9 suites (bionic, focal, jammy, mantic, noble, oracular, trusty, upstream, xenial): not-affected 23, needs-triage 3, ignored 1. https://ubuntu.com/security/CVE-2024-1048

Affected software / configurations for CVE-2024-1048

Vendor Product Version Raw CPE
gnu grub2 — cpe:2.3:a:gnu:grub2:-:*:*:*:*:*:*:*
redhat enterprise_linux 8.0 cpe:2.3:o:redhat:enterprise_linux:8.0:*:*:*:*:*:*:*
redhat enterprise_linux 9.0 cpe:2.3:o:redhat:enterprise_linux:9.0:*:*:*:*:*:*:*
fedoraproject fedora 40 cpe:2.3:o:fedoraproject:fedora:40:*:*:*:*:*:*:*

References for CVE-2024-1048

cvelogic Threat Intelligence