CVE-2024-51504 is a critical-severity (CVSS 9.1) CWE-290 vulnerability in org.apache.zookeeper:zookeeper. A fix is available for org.apache.zookeeper:zookeeper — see the affected versions and patch details below.
Apache ZooKeeper: Authentication bypass with IP-based authentication in Admin Server
Exploitation Status
No confirmed exploitation observed yet
- 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.
- CISA’s own triage has not observed active exploitation or public proof-of-concept code for this CVE as of its last assessment.
Exploitation and automatability from CISA’s SSVC triage for CVE-2024-51504.
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-2024-51504 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 377,636 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
org.apache.zookeeper:zookeeperReal-time download stats are indexed for npm and PyPI packages. This vulnerability affects Maven packages — download data is not available via public APIs for these ecosystems.
Description
When using IPAuthenticationProvider in ZooKeeper Admin Server there is a possibility of Authentication Bypass by Spoofing -- this only impacts IP based authentication implemented in ZooKeeper Admin Server. Default configuration of client's IP address detection in IPAuthenticationProvider, which uses HTTP request headers, is weak and allows an attacker to bypass authentication via spoofing client's IP address in request headers. Default configuration honors X-Forwarded-For HTTP header to read client's IP address. X-Forwarded-For request header is mainly used by proxy servers to identify the client and can be easily spoofed by an attacker pretending that the request comes from a different IP address. Admin Server commands, such as snapshot and restore arbitrarily can be executed on successful exploitation which could potentially lead to information leakage or service availability issues. Users are recommended to upgrade to version 3.9.3, which fixes this issue.
Affected Packages
| Ecosystem | Package | Vulnerable range | Fix |
|---|---|---|---|
| ☕Maven | org.apache.zookeeper:zookeeper | ≥ 3.9.0&&< 3.9.3 | 3.9.3org.apache.zookeeper:zookeeper:3.9.3 |
Detection & mitigation playbook
Open-source dependencyDetect
Scan your dependency tree (package-lock.json, pnpm-lock.yaml, requirements.txt, go.sum, etc.) for org.apache.zookeeper:zookeeper, including transitive dependencies — a direct dependency you never call can still pull in a vulnerable version.
Fix
Update org.apache.zookeeper:zookeeper to 3.9.3 or later, then make sure no transitive (indirect) dependency still pins the vulnerable range — O3 confirms CVE-2024-51504 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-2024-51504 can be triaged on real exposure rather than presence alone.
Tailored to CVE-2024-51504. 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-2024-51504 in your dependencies?
O3 Security finds CVE-2024-51504 across Maven dependencies, including transitive ones, and its impact-aware SCA ranks findings by whether your code actually calls the vulnerable path.