CVE-2024-58250 is a vulnerability classified under CWE-426 (Untrusted Search Path) affecting the passprompt plugin within the pppd daemon of the ppp package maintained by the Samba project. The vulnerability arises due to improper handling of privilege escalation in the passprompt plugin prior to version 2.5.2. Specifically, the issue relates to the way the plugin searches for executables or libraries without properly validating or restricting the search path, potentially allowing an attacker to influence which binaries or scripts are executed. This can lead to privilege escalation if an attacker can place a malicious executable in a directory that is searched before the legitimate one. The ppp daemon is responsible for managing Point-to-Point Protocol connections, commonly used for dial-up, VPN, or other network link establishment scenarios. Since pppd often runs with elevated privileges to manage network interfaces, exploitation of this vulnerability could allow an attacker with limited local access to execute arbitrary code with higher privileges. The vulnerability does not require user interaction but does require the attacker to have some level of access to the system to manipulate the search path or place malicious files. No known public exploits or active exploitation in the wild have been reported as of the publication date. The vulnerability was published on April 22, 2025, and affects all versions prior to 2.5.2. No official patches or mitigation links have been provided yet, indicating that remediation may require upgrading to the fixed version once available or applying vendor-specific workarounds.

For European organizations, the impact of CVE-2024-58250 could be significant in environments where pppd is used to manage network connections, particularly in legacy systems or specialized network setups relying on PPP for VPN or remote access. Successful exploitation could lead to local privilege escalation, enabling attackers to gain root or administrative control over affected systems. This could compromise confidentiality by allowing unauthorized access to sensitive data, integrity by permitting unauthorized changes to system configurations or data, and availability by potentially disrupting network connectivity or system stability. Critical infrastructure sectors, telecommunications providers, and enterprises with remote access solutions based on PPP could be particularly at risk. The medium severity rating reflects that exploitation requires local access and some system knowledge, but the elevated privileges gained could facilitate further lateral movement or persistent footholds within networks. Given the widespread use of Samba and PPP in various networked environments across Europe, the vulnerability could affect a broad range of organizations, especially those with legacy or unpatched systems.

1. Immediate mitigation should focus on restricting write permissions on directories included in the search path used by the passprompt plugin to prevent attackers from placing malicious executables. 2. System administrators should audit and harden environment variables such as PATH to ensure they do not include untrusted directories, especially in contexts where pppd runs with elevated privileges. 3. Employ application whitelisting or integrity verification tools to detect unauthorized binaries in critical system paths. 4. Monitor system logs for unusual activity related to pppd or unexpected execution of binaries in the search path. 5. Once available, promptly upgrade ppp to version 2.5.2 or later where the vulnerability is addressed. 6. For environments where upgrading is not immediately feasible, consider isolating pppd processes using containerization or sandboxing techniques to limit the impact of potential exploitation. 7. Conduct regular vulnerability scanning and penetration testing focused on privilege escalation vectors related to untrusted search paths. 8. Educate system administrators about the risks of untrusted search paths and the importance of secure environment configurations in privileged services.