CVE-2024-24821

Local code execution via unvalidated project metadata

Published Feb 8, 2024 · Updated Jun 17, 2025

Code execution in affected Composer releases allows local users to run arbitrary code via tampered installed.php project metadata. During startup, Composer directly includes vendor/composer/InstalledVersions.php or installed.php from the working directory without validating that the PHP file contains only expected metadata. Exploitation requires control of a project directory later used by another account; affected branches are 2.0 and later before 2.2.23, and 2.3 and later before 2.7.0, while sudo invocation executes the code as root.

CVSS severity8.8
High
EPSS probability0.28%
Next 30 days · Sep 16, 2026
Known exploitationUnconfirmed
Based on sourced intelligence
Hinoki checkNot available
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Summary

What happened

Code execution in affected Composer releases allows local users to run arbitrary code via tampered installed.php project metadata. During startup, Composer directly includes vendor/composer/InstalledVersions.php or installed.php from the working directory without validating that the PHP file contains only expected metadata. Exploitation requires control of a project directory later used by another account; affected branches are 2.0 and later before 2.2.23, and 2.3 and later before 2.7.0, while sudo invocation executes the code as root.

The record

CVE
CVE-2024-24821
Published
Feb 8, 2024
Updated
Jun 17, 2025
Vendor
Composer
Product
Composer
Classifications
CWE-829, T1574
Attack vector
local
Privileges
authenticated

Timeline

How it unfolded

  1. Feb 8, 2024CVE publishedPublication date reported by the CVE source.
  2. Jun 17, 2025Record updatedLatest update available in the CVE record.

Exploitability

Present is not the same as exploitable

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Is a vulnerable build present?

Compare these published version ranges with your installed build and any vendor patches.

  1. Affected versionversion=>= 2.0, < 2.2.23
  2. Affected versionversion=>= 2.3, < 2.7

What conditions does exploitation require?

Attack vectorlocal
Required privilegesauthenticated

What is affected?

Composer · Composerversion=>= 2.0, < 2.2.23; version=>= 2.3, < 2.7

Published CVSS scores

8.8GitHubCVSS:3.1/AV:L/AC:L/PR:L/UI:N/S:C/C:H/I:H/A:H

CVSS describes severity. EPSS estimates exploitation probability.

Attacks

What attackers are doing with it

Daily unique IPs observed by Shadowserver honeypots for known exploited vulnerabilities (KEVs). Missing observations do not establish an absence of attacks.

Daily unique IPsNo honeypot observations are available for this CVE in the selected window.

No observations available

Sep 10, 2026Sep 16, 2026
Latest reporting daySep 16, 2026
Latest daily unique IPsUnavailable
Prior 30-day averageUnavailable
SourceShadowserver honeypots (KEV)
Vectorlocal
Privilegesauthenticated
Known exploitationUnconfirmed
Public exploitUnconfirmed

Weakness, pattern, technique

CWE-829Inclusion of Functionality from Untrusted Control Sphere
T1574Hijack Execution Flow

Public exploit references

No public exploit references are available in this record.

Labels summarize the accepted research assessment. They do not indicate a test against your environment.

Technologies

Your stack

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Your stack

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