CVE intelligence and bounded remediation

CVE-2024-51499 — MarkUs is a web application for the submission and grading of student assignments

High CVSS 8.8

MarkUs is a web application for the submission and grading of student assignments. In versions prior to 2.4.8, an arbitrary file write vulnerability accessible via the update_files method of the SubmissionsController allows authenticated users (e.g. students) to write arbitrary files to any location on the web server MarkUs is running on (depending on the permissions of the underlying filesystem). e.g. This can lead to a delayed remote code execution in case an attacker is able to write a Ruby file into the config/initializers/ subfolder of the Ruby on Rails application. MarkUs v2.4.8 has addressed this issue. No known workarounds are available at the application level aside from upgrading.

Severity
High
CVSS
8.8 (3.1)
Published
2024-11-18
CISA KEV
Not currently listed
Ecosystem
software/application
Weaknesses
CWE-434

Affected products

  • markusproject / markus

Matched remediation archetype

Path traversal, unsafe upload, and file handling

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Check exposure

  • Trace untrusted filenames, archive entries, URLs, and path segments into read, write, include, extraction, and upload operations.
  • Identify filesystem roots, mount permissions, symbolic-link behavior, archive handling, and whether uploaded content is web-accessible or executable.
  • Review canonicalization and containment checks across supported operating systems and storage backends.

Remediate safely

  • Generate server-side storage identifiers and resolve paths beneath a fixed root using filesystem-aware containment checks.
  • Reject absolute, parent-relative, alternate-separator, device, link, and archive entries that escape the intended root.
  • Store uploads outside executable or served paths, validate type and size, and use private atomic temporary files.

Authoritative sources

Complete CVE record and remediation plan

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