CVE-2024-21488 is a high-severity (CVSS 7.3) CWE-77 vulnerability in network. 2 public exploit or proof-of-concept references are indexed, so weaponization risk is real. A fix is available for network — see the affected versions and patch details below.
network Arbitrary Command Injection vulnerability
Exploitation Status
Proof-of-concept exploit code exists
- CISA’s SSVC triage found public proof-of-concept exploit code for this CVE, though no confirmed active exploitation.
- A successful exploit gives an attacker total control of the affected component, not partial access.
Exploitation and automatability from CISA’s SSVC triage for CVE-2024-21488.
EPSS Exploitation Probability
Probability of exploitation in the next 30 days, from FIRST.org EPSS.
How urgent is this, really
Where this sits among everything scored
Real-World Exposure
How broadly this vulnerability is actually deployed: weekly install volume shows current usage, and reverse-dependency count shows how many other packages break if it stays unpatched.
networknpmDescription
Versions of the package network before 0.7.0 are vulnerable to Arbitrary Command Injection due to use of the child_process exec function without input sanitization. If (attacker-controlled) user input is given to the mac_address_for function of the package, it is possible for the attacker to execute arbitrary commands on the operating system that this package is being run on.
Affected Packages
| Ecosystem | Package | Vulnerable range | Fix |
|---|---|---|---|
| 📦npm | network | all versions | 0.7.0npm install network@0.7.0 |
Affected Products
networkforkhqResearch use only. For defensive security, authorized penetration testing, and academic research only. Never execute exploit code against systems without explicit written authorization.
Detection & mitigation playbook
Open-source dependencyDetect
Scan your dependency tree (package-lock.json, pnpm-lock.yaml, requirements.txt, go.sum, etc.) for network, including transitive dependencies — a direct dependency you never call can still pull in a vulnerable version.
Fix
Update network to 0.7.0 or later, then make sure no transitive (indirect) dependency still pins the vulnerable range — O3 confirms CVE-2024-21488 is resolved across your whole dependency graph.
Workarounds
Stop passing untrusted input into the interpreter or shell: call the affected binary with an argument array rather than a composed command string, reject anything outside a strict allowlist of expected values, and run the component under an account that cannot reach beyond the work it legitimately does.
Frequently Asked Questions
Is CVE-2024-21488 in your dependencies?
Find it across npm, including transitive dependencies.