CVE-2024-23768 is a high-severity path traversal vulnerability affecting multiple versions of Dremio, a data lake engine platform widely used for data analytics and querying. The vulnerability exists in versions 22.0.0 through 22.2.2, 23.0.0 through 23.2.3, and 24.0.0 through 24.3.0, and was fixed starting from versions 22.2.3, 23.2.4, and 24.3.1 respectively. The flaw allows an authenticated user with limited privileges—specifically, a user who has access to the source and at least one folder within that source but no privileges on certain other folders—to perform a path traversal attack. This enables unauthorized access to folders, files, and datasets that the user should not be able to access. The vulnerability is classified under CWE-22 (Improper Limitation of a Pathname to a Restricted Directory) and has a CVSS v3.1 base score of 8.8, indicating a high impact. The attack vector is network-based (AV:N), requires low privileges (PR:L), does not require user interaction (UI:N), and affects confidentiality, integrity, and availability to a high degree (C:H/I:H/A:H). Exploitation does not require UI and can be performed remotely by an authenticated user, making it a significant risk in environments where user accounts are shared or where privilege boundaries are critical. No known exploits are currently reported in the wild, but the severity and ease of exploitation warrant immediate attention. The vulnerability could lead to unauthorized data disclosure, data tampering, or disruption of data services within the affected Dremio deployments.

For European organizations, the impact of CVE-2024-23768 can be substantial, especially for enterprises relying on Dremio for data analytics, business intelligence, and data lake management. Unauthorized access to restricted folders and datasets could lead to exposure of sensitive personal data, intellectual property, or confidential business information, potentially violating GDPR and other data protection regulations. The integrity of critical datasets could be compromised, leading to erroneous analytics results and poor business decisions. Availability could also be affected if attackers manipulate or delete datasets. Organizations in sectors such as finance, healthcare, telecommunications, and government, which often handle sensitive data and rely heavily on data analytics platforms, are particularly at risk. The requirement for authentication reduces the risk from external unauthenticated attackers but does not eliminate insider threats or risks from compromised credentials. The vulnerability could also facilitate lateral movement within an organization's data infrastructure, increasing the attack surface and complicating incident response efforts.

European organizations should prioritize upgrading affected Dremio instances to the fixed versions: 22.2.3 or later, 23.2.4 or later, and 24.3.1 or later. Until patches are applied, organizations should enforce strict access controls and monitor user activities closely, especially for users with access to data sources and folders. Implementing robust authentication mechanisms such as multi-factor authentication (MFA) can reduce the risk of credential compromise. Network segmentation and limiting access to Dremio instances to trusted networks can reduce exposure. Regular audits of user privileges and folder access permissions should be conducted to ensure least privilege principles are enforced. Additionally, organizations should enable detailed logging and monitoring to detect unusual access patterns indicative of exploitation attempts. Incident response plans should be updated to include scenarios involving unauthorized data access via path traversal. Finally, educating users about the risks of credential sharing and phishing can help mitigate the risk of attackers gaining authenticated access.