CVE-2024-51491 is a low-severity (CVSS 3.3) CWE-703 vulnerability in github.com/notaryproject/notation-go. A fix is available for github.com/notaryproject/notation-go — see the affected versions and patch details below.
Process crash during CRL-based revocation check on OS using separate mount point for temp Directory in notation-go
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.
Exploitation and automatability from CISA’s SSVC triage for CVE-2024-51491.
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-2024-51491 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 378,567 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
github.com/notaryproject/notation-goReal-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
Summary
The issue was identified during Quarkslab's security audit on the Certificate Revocation List (CRL) based revocation check feature. After retrieving the CRL, notation-go attempts to update the CRL cache using the os.Rename method. However, this operation may fail due to operating system-specific limitations, particularly when the source and destination paths are on different mount points. This failure could lead to an unexpected program termination.
Details
In method crl.(*FileCache).Set, a temporary file is created in the OS dedicated area (like /tmp for, usually, Linux/Unix). The file is written and then it is tried to move it to the dedicated notation cache directory thanks os.Rename. As specified in Go documentation, OS specific restriction may apply. When used with Linux OS, it is relying on rename syscall from the libc and as per the documentation, moving a file to a different mountpoint raises an EXDEV error, interpreted as Cross device link not permitted error.
Some Linux distribution, like RedHat use a dedicated filesystem (tmpfs), mounted on a specific mountpoint (usually /tmp) for temporary files. When using such OS, revocation check based on CRL will repeatedly crash notation.
PoC
- Ensure that the temporary file storage area (e.g., /tmp) is mounted on a different mount point than the user's 'notation' cache directory.
- Either disable the Online Certificate Status Protocol (OCSP) revocation check, or utilize certificates that exclusively support Certificate Revocation Lists (CRLs) for revocation check.
- Try to verify a previously generated signature using the 'notation' tool.
Impact
The signature verification process is aborted as process crashes.
Remediation
The cache file should be created, written, then copied to the wanted final location, and finally removed. Additionally, this error shouldn't lead to a crash as it is not fatal and shouldn't prevent the rest of the program to properly continue
Affected Packages
| Ecosystem | Package | Vulnerable range | Fix |
|---|---|---|---|
| 🐹Go | github.com/notaryproject/notation-go | ≥ 1.3.0-rc.1&&< 1.3.0-rc.2 | 1.3.0-rc.2go get github.com/notaryproject/notation-go@v1.3.0-rc.2 |
Detection & mitigation playbook
Open-source dependencyDetect
Scan your dependency tree (package-lock.json, pnpm-lock.yaml, requirements.txt, go.sum, etc.) for github.com/notaryproject/notation-go, including transitive dependencies — a direct dependency you never call can still pull in a vulnerable version.
Fix
Update github.com/notaryproject/notation-go to 1.3.0-rc.2 or later, then make sure no transitive (indirect) dependency still pins the vulnerable range — O3 confirms CVE-2024-51491 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 Security's impact-aware SCA analyses which vulnerable code paths your application actually calls, so a match like CVE-2024-51491 can be triaged on real exposure rather than presence alone.
Tailored to CVE-2024-51491. 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-2024-51491 in your dependencies?
O3 Security finds CVE-2024-51491 across Go dependencies, including transitive ones, and its impact-aware SCA ranks findings by whether your code actually calls the vulnerable path.