CVE-2024-38531

Build hijacking via exposed setuid worker binary

Published Jun 28, 2024 · Updated Aug 2, 2024

Sandbox escape in Nix allows local users with daemon access to impersonate a build worker and hijack future builds through a setuid binary. The daemon lets a build process change its build-directory permissions, exposing a setuid artifact that runs with the worker's permissions. Exploitation requires local Nix daemon access and disabled or ineffective seccomp, and it permits modification or interruption of later builds.

CVSS severity3.6
Low
EPSS probability0.14%
Next 30 days · Sep 16, 2026
Known exploitationUnconfirmed
Based on sourced intelligence
Hinoki checkNot available
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Summary

What happened

Sandbox escape in Nix allows local users with daemon access to impersonate a build worker and hijack future builds through a setuid binary. The daemon lets a build process change its build-directory permissions, exposing a setuid artifact that runs with the worker's permissions. Exploitation requires local Nix daemon access and disabled or ineffective seccomp, and it permits modification or interruption of later builds.

The record

CVE
CVE-2024-38531
Published
Jun 28, 2024
Updated
Aug 2, 2024
Vendor
NixOS
Product
Nix
Classifications
CWE-278, T1548.001
Attack vector
local
Privileges
authenticated

Timeline

How it unfolded

  1. Jun 28, 2024CVE publishedPublication date reported by the CVE source.
  2. Aug 2, 2024Record updatedLatest update available in the CVE record.

Exploitability

Present is not the same as exploitable

Compare your product and version with the public record. A matching version still requires validation against your environment.

Is a vulnerable build present?

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

  1. Affected versionversion=>= 2.18.0, < 2.18.4
  2. Affected versionversion=>= 2.19.0, < 2.19.5
  3. Affected versionversion=>= 2.20.0, < 2.20.7
  4. Affected versionversion=>= 2.21.0, < 2.21.3
  5. Affected versionversion=>= 2.22.0, < 2.22.2
  6. Affected versionversion=>= 2.23.0, < 2.23.1

What conditions does exploitation require?

Attack vectorlocal
Required privilegesauthenticated

What is affected?

NixOS · Nixversion=>= 2.18.0, < 2.18.4; version=>= 2.19.0, < 2.19.5; version=>= 2.20.0, < 2.20.7; version=>= 2.21.0, < 2.21.3; version=>= 2.22.0, < 2.22.2; version=>= 2.23.0, < 2.23.1

Published CVSS scores

3.6GitHubCVSS:3.1/AV:L/AC:H/PR:L/UI:N/S:U/C:N/I:L/A:L

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-278Insecure Preserved Inherited Permissions
T1548.001Abuse Elevation Control Mechanism: Setuid and Setgid

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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