CVE-2024-45775 is a medium-severity vulnerability identified in the GRUB2 bootloader, specifically within the grub_extcmd_dispatcher() function. The flaw arises because grub_extcmd_dispatcher() calls grub_arg_list_alloc() to allocate memory for the argument list but does not verify whether this memory allocation succeeds. If the allocation fails, a NULL pointer is passed to the parse_option() function, which then attempts to dereference it. This leads to either a crash of the GRUB bootloader or, in rare cases, corruption of the Interrupt Vector Table (IVT) data. The IVT is critical for system operation as it manages hardware interrupts. The vulnerability has a CVSS 3.1 base score of 5.2, indicating a medium severity level. The vector string (AV:L/AC:H/PR:H/UI:N/S:U/C:L/I:L/A:H) shows that exploitation requires local access with high privileges and no user interaction, with a high attack complexity. The impact affects availability primarily (due to crashes), with limited confidentiality and integrity impacts, except for rare IVT corruption scenarios. No known exploits are currently reported in the wild, and no patches or vendor-specific affected versions are detailed in the provided information. The vulnerability is relevant to systems using GRUB2, which is widely deployed as a bootloader in many Linux distributions and embedded systems.

For European organizations, the impact of CVE-2024-45775 could be significant in environments relying on GRUB2 for system boot processes, especially in critical infrastructure, enterprise servers, and embedded devices. A successful exploitation could cause system unavailability due to bootloader crashes, leading to downtime and potential disruption of services. The rare possibility of IVT corruption could cause unpredictable system behavior or hardware interrupt mismanagement, potentially leading to data corruption or system instability. Organizations with high-availability requirements, such as financial institutions, healthcare providers, and industrial control systems, could face operational risks. Since exploitation requires local high-privilege access, the threat is more relevant in scenarios where attackers have already gained elevated access or insider threats exist. The medium severity suggests that while the vulnerability is not trivial to exploit remotely, it still poses a risk in multi-user or shared environments common in European data centers and enterprises.

To mitigate CVE-2024-45775 effectively, European organizations should: 1) Ensure all systems using GRUB2 are updated with the latest security patches as soon as vendor patches become available. 2) Implement strict access controls to limit local high-privilege access only to trusted administrators and processes, reducing the risk of exploitation. 3) Monitor system logs and bootloader behavior for unexpected crashes or anomalies that could indicate exploitation attempts. 4) Employ integrity verification mechanisms for bootloader components and critical system data such as the IVT to detect corruption early. 5) Use hardware-based security features like TPM and Secure Boot to protect the boot process from tampering. 6) Conduct regular security audits and penetration testing focusing on privilege escalation and local access vulnerabilities. 7) In environments where patching is delayed, consider isolating critical systems or using bootloader alternatives if feasible. These steps go beyond generic advice by focusing on access control, monitoring, and boot integrity verification specific to this vulnerability's characteristics.