CVE-2024-48992

Description

Qualys discovered that needrestart, before version 3.8, allows local attackers to execute arbitrary code as root by tricking needrestart into running the Ruby interpreter with an attacker-controlled RUBYLIB environment variable.

Remediation

Workaround:

  • Edit /etc/needrestart/needrestart.conf so that the following line appears after "# Disable interpreter scanners." and reboot: $nrconf{interpscan} = 0;

Category

7.8
CVSS
Severity: High
CVSS 3.1 •
EPSS 0.15%
Third-Party Advisory qualys.com
Affected: needrestart needrestart
Published at:
Updated at:

References

Link Tags
https://www.cve.org/CVERecord?id=CVE-2024-48992 issue tracking vdb entry
https://github.com/liske/needrestart/commit/b5f25f6ec6e7dd0c5be249e4e45de4ee9ffe594f patch
https://www.qualys.com/2024/11/19/needrestart/needrestart.txt third party advisory
https://www.openwall.com/lists/oss-security/2024/11/19/1 mailing list

Frequently Asked Questions

What is the severity of CVE-2024-48992?
CVE-2024-48992 has been scored as a high severity vulnerability.
How to fix CVE-2024-48992?
As a workaround for remediating CVE-2024-48992: Edit /etc/needrestart/needrestart.conf so that the following line appears after "# Disable interpreter scanners." and reboot: $nrconf{interpscan} = 0;
Is CVE-2024-48992 being actively exploited in the wild?
As for now, there are no information to confirm that CVE-2024-48992 is being actively exploited. According to its EPSS score, there is a ~0% probability that this vulnerability will be exploited by malicious actors in the next 30 days.
What software or system is affected by CVE-2024-48992?
CVE-2024-48992 affects needrestart needrestart.
This platform uses data from the NIST NVD, MITRE CVE, MITRE CWE, First.org and CISA KEV but is not endorsed or certified by these entities. CVE is a registred trademark of the MITRE Corporation and the authoritative source of CVE content is MITRE's CVE web site. CWE is a registred trademark of the MITRE Corporation and the authoritative source of CWE content is MITRE's CWE web site.
© 2025 Under My Watch. All Rights Reserved.