CVE-2024-2947 is a command injection vulnerability identified in Cockpit, a widely used web-based server management tool, affecting versions 270 and newer. The flaw occurs when deleting a sosreport—a diagnostic archive generated by the sosreport tool—via the Cockpit web interface if the sosreport filename is crafted maliciously. The vulnerability stems from improper neutralization of special elements in the filename, allowing an attacker to inject and execute arbitrary shell commands on the underlying system. Successful exploitation leads to privilege escalation, granting the attacker higher system privileges than initially held. The CVSS 3.1 score of 7.3 reflects high severity, with attack vector being local (AV:L), requiring low attack complexity (AC:L), low privileges (PR:L), and user interaction (UI:R). The scope is unchanged (S:U), but the impact on confidentiality, integrity, and availability is high (C:H/I:H/A:H). Although no known exploits are reported in the wild, the vulnerability poses a significant risk especially in environments where Cockpit is accessible to multiple users or exposed beyond trusted networks. The root cause is insufficient input sanitization of sosreport names before command execution in the deletion process. This allows injection of shell metacharacters or commands, which are executed with elevated privileges, potentially compromising the entire system.

For European organizations, the impact of CVE-2024-2947 can be severe. Cockpit is commonly used in Linux server environments for system administration, including critical infrastructure, cloud services, and enterprise IT. Exploitation could allow attackers to escalate privileges and execute arbitrary commands, leading to full system compromise. This threatens confidentiality of sensitive data, integrity of system configurations, and availability of services. Organizations in sectors such as finance, healthcare, government, and energy that rely on Linux servers managed via Cockpit are particularly at risk. The local attack vector means that insider threats or attackers with limited access could leverage this vulnerability to gain broader control. The requirement for user interaction reduces remote exploitation risk but does not eliminate it, especially in environments where users may be tricked into deleting maliciously named reports. The absence of known exploits currently provides a window for proactive defense, but the high severity score indicates urgent remediation is necessary to prevent potential attacks.

To mitigate CVE-2024-2947, European organizations should implement the following specific measures: 1) Immediately restrict access to the Cockpit web interface to trusted administrators only, using network segmentation and firewall rules to limit exposure. 2) Enforce strict user permissions and audit user actions within Cockpit to detect suspicious activity related to sosreport management. 3) Educate administrators to avoid deleting sosreports with untrusted or suspicious filenames and to verify report origins. 4) Monitor system logs for unusual command executions or privilege escalations linked to sosreport deletions. 5) Apply patches or updates from Cockpit maintainers as soon as they become available to address the input sanitization flaw. 6) Consider implementing additional input validation or filtering at the application or OS level to prevent injection of special characters in filenames. 7) Use security tools to detect anomalous behavior indicative of exploitation attempts. 8) Regularly review and update incident response plans to include scenarios involving Cockpit vulnerabilities. These targeted actions go beyond generic advice by focusing on the specific attack vector and operational context of the vulnerability.