CVE-2024-46538VulnerabilityPublished 22 Oct 2024

CVE-2024-46538: pfsense · n/a

Affects pfsenseSource CVE Database V5

Not known to be exploited · 80% EPSS · CVSS 9.3 Critical.

Data as of 26 Oct 2026, 08:30 UTC

CVSS 3.1 base score

9.3Critical

How severe the flaw is on the 0–10 CVSS scale.

EPSS: 80.2% chance of exploitation in 30 days – higher than 99% of CVEsExploit Prediction Scoring System: the likelihood attackers will use this flaw soon.

CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:L/PR:N/UI:R/S:C/C:H/I:H/A:N

Attack Vector: Network
Attack Complexity: Low
Privileges Required: None
User Interaction: Required
Scope: Changed
Confidentiality: High
Integrity: High
Availability: None

Bold values are the worst case: easiest to exploit or largest impact.

Attack Vector: Network: The vulnerable component is bound to the network stack and the set of possible attackers extends beyond the other options listed, up to and including the entire Internet. Such a vulnerability is often termed 'remotely exploitable' and can be thought of as an attack being exploitable at the protocol level one or more network hops away (e.g., across one or more routers).
Attack Complexity: Low: Specialized access conditions or extenuating circumstances do not exist. An attacker can expect repeatable success against the vulnerable component.
Privileges Required: None: The attacker is unauthorized prior to attack, and therefore does not require any access to settings or files to carry out an attack.
User Interaction: Required: Successful exploitation of this vulnerability requires a user to take some action before the vulnerability can be exploited.
Scope: Changed: An exploited vulnerability can affect resources beyond the security scope managed by the security authority of the vulnerable component. In this case, the vulnerable component and the impacted component are different and managed by different security authorities.
Confidentiality: High: There is total loss of confidentiality, resulting in all resources within the impacted component being divulged to the attacker. Alternatively, access to only some restricted information is obtained, but the disclosed information presents a direct, serious impact.
Integrity: High: There is a total loss of integrity, or a complete loss of protection. For example, the attacker is able to modify any/all files protected by the impacted component. Alternatively, only some files can be modified, but malicious modification would present a direct, serious consequence to the impacted component.
Availability: None: There is no impact to availability within the impacted component.

Definitions: FIRST CVSS v3.1 specification.

Exploitation evidence

Disclosed: evidence found.
CVE published 22 Oct 2024
Detectable: no evidence on record.
No public nuclei template indexed
Weaponised: no evidence on record.
No public exploit code indexed in Metasploit or Exploit-DB
Exploited in the wildExploited: no evidence on record.
Not in CISA KEV and no source reports exploitation
Observed by OffSeq MirageSeen by Mirage: no evidence on record.
No attack traffic recorded by OffSeq Mirage sensors

A missing step is not evidence of safety. Sources: cve.org (opens in a new tab), the Metasploit, Exploit-DB and nuclei-templates index as of 26 Oct 2026.

Disclosed: The CVE record is public on cve.org. Its publication is t = 0.
Detectable: A public nuclei template can find exposed instances, for defenders and attackers alike.
Weaponised: Public exploit code exists in Metasploit or Exploit-DB, or CISA SSVC reports a public proof of concept.
Exploited in the wild: CISA KEV lists it, CISA SSVC rates exploitation active, or a source reports attacks.
Observed by OffSeq Mirage: OffSeq Mirage honeypot sensors recorded attack traffic for this CVE, or found exposed hosts without attack traffic.

Moments are spaced evenly, not to scale; a dashed line marks a gap of six months or more. Deltas count from t = 0. Sources that give only a date (CISA KEV, Exploit-DB, or a time of exactly 00:00Z) read “same day” rather than hours. Metasploit modules carry the flaw’s disclosure date, not their release date, and nuclei templates carry no date, so both appear above but not on the timeline.

What to do

Affected software

Product	Affected	Fixed in
GitHubpfsense/pfsense`pkg:github/pfsense/pfsense`Other threats	Affected =2.5.2	Fixed in–

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AI-suggested

To mitigate CVE-2024-46538 effectively, organizations should: 1) Immediately restrict access to the pfSense web interface to trusted networks and users only, using VPNs or IP whitelisting to reduce exposure. 2) Monitor and filter inbound traffic to the pfSense management interface with a web application firewall (WAF) or intrusion prevention system (IPS) capable of detecting and blocking XSS payloads targeting interfaces_groups_edit.php. 3) Educate administrators and users about the risk of phishing and social engineering attacks that could trigger user interaction required for exploitation. 4) Regularly audit pfSense configurations and logs for suspicious activity or unauthorized changes. 5) Stay alert for official patches or updates from the pfSense development team and apply them promptly once available. 6) Consider deploying multi-factor authentication (MFA) for pfSense administrative access to reduce the risk of credential compromise. 7) If patching is not immediately possible, consider temporary workarounds such as disabling the vulnerable interface or limiting administrative privileges to reduce attack surface.

Description

A cross-site scripting (XSS) vulnerability in pfsense v2.5.2 allows attackers to execute arbitrary web scripts or HTML via a crafted payload injected into the $pconfig variable at interfaces_groups_edit.php.

Impact

The impact of CVE-2024-46538 is substantial for organizations relying on pfSense 2.5.2 for network security. Successful exploitation can lead to execution of arbitrary scripts in the context of the pfSense web interface, enabling attackers to hijack administrative sessions, steal credentials, or perform unauthorized configuration changes. This compromises the confidentiality and integrity of network security configurations, potentially allowing attackers to bypass firewall rules, intercept or redirect network traffic, and establish persistent footholds within the network. Since pfSense often protects critical infrastructure and sensitive environments, the vulnerability could facilitate lateral movement and further compromise of internal systems. The requirement for user interaction (e.g., an administrator visiting a malicious link) slightly reduces the ease of exploitation but does not eliminate risk, especially in targeted attacks or phishing campaigns. The absence of known exploits in the wild currently limits immediate widespread impact, but the critical severity and widespread deployment of pfSense necessitate urgent attention to prevent future exploitation.

CWE-79Improper Neutralization of Input During Web Page Generation ('Cross-site Scripting') (opens in a new tab)
Base weaknessLikelihood of exploit: HighCWE Top 25 (2025): #1OWASP Top 10 A05:2025: Injection (opens in a new tab)
The product does not neutralize or incorrectly neutralizes user-controllable input before it is placed in output that is used as a web page that is served to other users.
Architecture and Design · Libraries or Frameworks
Use a vetted library or framework that does not allow this weakness to occur or provides constructs that make this weakness easier to avoid.
Implementation · Architecture and Design
Understand the context in which your data will be used and the encoding that will be expected. This is especially important when transmitting data between different components, or when generating outputs that can contain multiple encodings at the same time, such as web pages or multi-part mail messages.
Architecture and Design · Implementation · Attack Surface Reduction
Understand all the potential areas where untrusted inputs can enter your software: parameters or arguments, cookies, anything read from the network, environment variables, reverse DNS lookups, query results, request headers, URL components, e-mail, files, filenames, databases, and any external systems that provide…
OWASP Cheat Sheets
Cross Site Scripting Prevention (opens in a new tab)
DOM based XSS Prevention (opens in a new tab)
Injection Prevention (opens in a new tab)
Abuse Case (opens in a new tab)
Deserialization (opens in a new tab)
OWASP ASVS 4.0.3
V5.3.3 (opens in a new tab)
V1.5.1 (opens in a new tab)
Attack patterns
XSS Using MIME Type Mismatch (opens in a new tab)
DOM-Based XSS (opens in a new tab)
Reflected XSS (opens in a new tab)
Stored XSS (opens in a new tab)
Cross-Site Scripting (XSS) (opens in a new tab)
From MITRE CWE, MITRE CAPEC and OWASP (Top 10, OpenCRE).

References

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Exploitation evidence

What to do

Affected software

Description

AI analysisMachine-generated, updated 26 Feb 2026, 08:40 UTC

WeaknessesCWE-79

Technical details

References

Community reviews

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