CVE-2024-38996 is a critical-severity (CVSS 9.8) CWE-1321 vulnerability in ag-grid-enterprise. A fix is available for ag-grid-enterprise — see the affected versions and patch details below.
Prototype pollution in ag-grid-community via the _.mergeDeep function
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.
- CISA assesses this as automatable — exploitation doesn’t require manual, per-target effort, which raises the odds of mass scanning and opportunistic attacks.
- 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-2024-38996.
EPSS Exploitation Probability
EPSS (Exploit Prediction Scoring System) is a daily probability model maintained by FIRST.org. It estimates the likelihood a CVE will be exploited in production environments within the next 30 days, derived from real-world threat intelligence signals.
How urgent is this, really
CVE-2024-38996 plotted by exploitation likelihood (EPSS) against impact (CVSS). The shaded corner — EPSS 50%+ and CVSS 7.0+ — is where this CVE doesn't sit, though severity or exploitability alone can still warrant action.
Where this sits among everything scored
Of 379,842 CVEs with a current EPSS score, this one falls in the < 10% band (highlighted). Real counts from FIRST.org, not a sample — log-scaled since the landscape is heavily right-skewed.
Real-World Exposure
ag-grid-enterprise📦ag-grid-communityReal-time download stats are indexed for npm and PyPI packages. This vulnerability affects npm packages — download data is not available via public APIs for these ecosystems.
Description
ag-grid-community v31.3.2 and ag-grid-enterprise v31.3.2 were discovered to contain a prototype pollution via the _.mergeDeep function. This vulnerability allows attackers to execute arbitrary code or cause a Denial of Service (DoS) via injecting arbitrary properties. Prior versions were also found to be affected.
Affected Packages
| Ecosystem | Package | Vulnerable range | Fix |
|---|---|---|---|
| 📦npm | ag-grid-enterprise | all versions | 31.3.4npm install ag-grid-enterprise@31.3.4 |
| 📦npm | ag-grid-community | all versions | 31.3.4npm install ag-grid-community@31.3.4 |
Detection & mitigation playbook
Open-source dependencyDetect
Scan your dependency tree (package-lock.json, pnpm-lock.yaml, requirements.txt, go.sum, etc.) for ag-grid-enterprise, including transitive dependencies — a direct dependency you never call can still pull in a vulnerable version.
Fix
Update ag-grid-enterprise to 31.3.4 or later, then make sure no transitive (indirect) dependency still pins the vulnerable range — O3 confirms CVE-2024-38996 is resolved across your whole dependency graph.
Workarounds
Cap what an attacker can consume: apply request size, rate and timeout limits in front of the affected component, and run it with memory and CPU limits so exhaustion degrades one worker rather than the whole service.
How O3 protects you
O3 Security's impact-aware SCA analyses which vulnerable code paths your application actually calls, so a match like CVE-2024-38996 can be triaged on real exposure rather than presence alone.
Tailored to CVE-2024-38996. Runtime protection reduces exposure until a permanent patch is applied and verified — it complements patching, it doesn't replace it.
Frequently Asked Questions
Is CVE-2024-38996 in your dependencies?
O3 Security finds CVE-2024-38996 across npm dependencies, including transitive ones, and its impact-aware SCA ranks findings by whether your code actually calls the vulnerable path.