CVE-2024-51481

Sandbox escape via unsandboxed built-in builders

Published Oct 31, 2024 · Updated Oct 31, 2024

Sandbox escape in unpatched Nix releases before 2.25 allows local users to read or write host paths through built-in builders on macOS. The macOS build worker ran builtin:fetchurl and other in-process builders outside the sandbox because its built-in-builder path did not enter the sandbox profile. Exploitation requires a local build user and enabled sandboxing, which is disabled by default; access is limited to world-readable paths, world-writable paths, and new Nix store paths.

CVSS severity1.0
Low
EPSS probability0.17%
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 unpatched Nix releases before 2.25 allows local users to read or write host paths through built-in builders on macOS. The macOS build worker ran builtin:fetchurl and other in-process builders outside the sandbox because its built-in-builder path did not enter the sandbox profile. Exploitation requires a local build user and enabled sandboxing, which is disabled by default; access is limited to world-readable paths, world-writable paths, and new Nix store paths.

The record

CVE
CVE-2024-51481
Published
Oct 31, 2024
Updated
Oct 31, 2024
Vendor
NixOS
Product
Nix
Classifications
CWE-20, CWE-250, CWE-73, T1611
Attack vector
local
Privileges
authenticated

Timeline

How it unfolded

  1. Oct 31, 2024CVE publishedPublication date reported by the CVE source.
  2. Oct 31, 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=< 2.18.9
  2. Affected versionversion=>= 2.19.0, < 2.19.7, 2.20.9, 2.21.5, 2.22.4, 2.23.4, 2.24.10
  3. Affected versionversion=>= 2.20.0, < 2.20.9
  4. Affected versionversion=>= 2.21.0, < 2.21.5
  5. Affected versionversion=>= 2.22.0, < 2.22.4
  6. Affected versionversion=>= 2.23.0, < 2.23.4
  7. Affected versionversion=>= 2.24.0, < 2.24.10

What conditions does exploitation require?

Attack vectorlocal
Required privilegesauthenticated

What is affected?

NixOS · Nixversion=< 2.18.9; version=>= 2.19.0, < 2.19.7, 2.20.9, 2.21.5, 2.22.4, 2.23.4, 2.24.10; version=>= 2.20.0, < 2.20.9; version=>= 2.21.0, < 2.21.5; version=>= 2.22.0, < 2.22.4; version=>= 2.23.0, < 2.23.4; version=>= 2.24.0, < 2.24.10

Published CVSS scores

1.0GitHubCVSS:4.0/AV:L/AC:H/AT:P/PR:L/UI:P/VC:L/VI:L/VA:N/SC:L/SI:L/SA:N

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-20Improper Input Validation
CWE-250Execution with Unnecessary Privileges
CWE-73External Control of File Name or Path
T1611Escape to Host

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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