CVE-2024-5138
HIGHCVE-2024-5138 is a high-severity (CVSS 8.1) Improper Input Validation vulnerability in github.com/snapcore/snapd. O3 Security confirms whether CVE-2024-5138 is actually reachable in your code before you act, and blocks exploitation at runtime until you patch.
CVE-2024-5138: snapd snapctl auth bypass
Blast Radius
github.com/snapcore/snapd🐹github.com/snapcore/snapdReal-time download stats are indexed for npm and PyPI packages. This vulnerability affects Go packages — download data is not available via public APIs for these ecosystems.
Description
The snapctl component within snapd allows a confined snap to interact with the snapd daemon to take certain privileged actions on behalf of the snap. It was found that snapctl did not properly parse command-line arguments, allowing an unprivileged user to trigger an authorised action on behalf of the snap that would normally require administrator privileges to perform. This could possibly allow an unprivileged user to perform a denial of service or similar.
Affected Packages
| Ecosystem | Package | Vulnerable range | Fix |
|---|---|---|---|
| 🐹Go | github.com/snapcore/snapd | ≥ 2.51.6&&< 2.63.1 | 2.63.1 |
| 🐹Go | github.com/snapcore/snapd | all versions | 0.0.0-20240524114846-68ee9c6aa916 |
Detection & mitigation playbook
Open-source dependencyDetect
Scan your dependency tree (package-lock.json, pnpm-lock.yaml, requirements.txt, go.sum, etc.) for github.com/snapcore/snapd. O3's reachability analysis confirms whether the vulnerable code path is actually invoked in your application, so you act on real exposure instead of every transitive match.
Fix
Update github.com/snapcore/snapd to 2.63.1 or later, then make sure no transitive (indirect) dependency still pins the vulnerable range — O3 confirms CVE-2024-5138 is resolved across your whole dependency graph.
Workarounds
If you can't upgrade right away: gate or disable the affected feature, validate untrusted input at the boundary, and avoid passing attacker-controlled data into the vulnerable path. O3's runtime protection blocks exploitation in production as an interim safeguard until the upgrade lands.
How O3 protects you
O3 pinpoints whether CVE-2024-5138 is reachable in your code and exactly where to fix it, then blocks exploitation in production at runtime until the patched version is deployed.
Tailored to CVE-2024-5138. 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-2024-5138 in your dependencies?
O3 detects CVE-2024-5138 across Go dependencies and uses function-level reachability to confirm whether the vulnerable code path is actually reachable — not just present. No false positives.