CVE-2024-51448 | IBM Robotic Process Automation privilege escalation

IBM Robotic Process Automation 21.0.0 through 21.0.7.17 and 23.0.0 through 23.0.18 could allow a local user to escalate their privileges. All files in the install inherit the file permissions of the parent directory and therefore a non-privileged user can substitute any executable for the nssm.exe service. A subsequent service or server restart will then run that binary with administrator privilege.

Published: 2025-01-18 Last update: 2025-03-25 Assigner: [email protected] Source: [email protected]
NVD Status：Analyzed，CVE State: published
View at NVD, CVE.org, EUVD

CVE-2024-51448 is rated Low Risk (30.8/100): CVSS Medium severity, with low exploitation likelihood (EPSS 0.04%). Monitor for updates and reassess as exploit intelligence or EPSS changes.

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-2024-51448

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 2025-01-19 — 0.04% —

Full EPSS history (1 record total)

Common vulnerability scoring system (CVSS) metrics for CVE-2024-51448

CVSS metrics for this CVE.

Base score Version Severity Vector Exploitability Impact Score source
6.7 3.1 MEDIUM
CVSS:3.1/AV:L/AC:L/PR:H/UI:N/S:U/C:H/I:H/A:H 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:H)
They need powerful rights—admin, root, or similar—before this pays off.
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:H)
Serious risk that confidential data gets exposed in a big way.
Integrity (I:H)
They could widely tamper with or forge data—trust in the data is badly hurt.
Availability (A:H)
Could take the service down hard or make it unusable for people who depend on it.
 0.8 5.9 [email protected]

Weakness enumeration for CVE-2024-51448

Affected software / configurations for CVE-2024-51448

Vendor Product Version Raw CPE
ibm robotic_process_automation >= 21.0.0, <= 21.0.7.17 cpe:2.3:a:ibm:robotic_process_automation:*:*:*:*:*:*:*:*
ibm robotic_process_automation >= 23.0.0, <= 23.0.18 cpe:2.3:a:ibm:robotic_process_automation:*:*:*:*:*:*:*:*

References for CVE-2024-51448

cvelogic Threat Intelligence