CVE-2024-38077
Heap-based Buffer Overflow in Windows Remote Desktop Licensing Service Remote Code Execution Vulnerability
Executive Summary
CVE-2024-38077 is a critical severity vulnerability affecting binary-analysis. It is classified as Heap-based Buffer Overflow. Ensure your systems and dependencies are patched immediately to mitigate exposure risks.
Precogs AI Insight
"The Windows Remote Desktop Licensing Service contains a critical remote code execution vulnerability. Unauthenticated remote attackers send crafted RPC packets to trigger memory corruption and execute arbitrary code as SYSTEM. Precogs Binary Analysis natively identifies boundary validation omissions in network services."
What is this vulnerability?
CVE-2024-38077 is categorized as a critical Heap-based Buffer Overflow flaw with a CVSS base score of 9.8. Based on our vulnerability intelligence, this issue occurs when the application fails to securely handle untrusted data boundaries.
Windows Remote Desktop Licensing Service Remote Code Execution Vulnerability
This architectural defect enables adversaries to bypass intended security controls, directly manipulating the application's execution state or data layer. Immediate strategic intervention is required.
Risk Assessment
| Metric | Value |
|---|---|
| CVSS Base Score | 9.8 (CRITICAL) |
| Vector String | CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:L/PR:N/UI:N/S:U/C:H/I:H/A:H |
| Published | July 9, 2024 |
| Last Modified | November 21, 2024 |
| Related CWEs | CWE-122 |
Impact on Systems
✅ Remote Code Execution: Attackers can overwrite the instruction pointer to redirect execution to malicious shellcode.
✅ Memory Corruption: Overwriting adjacent memory regions can corrupt critical application state, leading to privilege escalation.
✅ Denial of Service: Triggering segmentation faults results in immediate disruption of critical systems.
How to Fix and Mitigate CVE-2024-38077
- Apply Vendor Patches: Upgrade affected components to their latest, non-vulnerable versions immediately.
- Implement Input Validation: Ensure all user-supplied data is validated, sanitized, and type-checked before processing.
- Deploy Runtime Protection: Use Precogs continuous monitoring to detect exploitation attempts in real time.
- Audit Dependencies: Review and update all third-party libraries and transitive dependencies.
Defending with Precogs AI
The Windows Remote Desktop Licensing Service contains a critical remote code execution vulnerability. Unauthenticated remote attackers send crafted RPC packets to trigger memory corruption and execute arbitrary code as SYSTEM. Precogs Binary Analysis natively identifies boundary validation omissions in network services.
Use Precogs to continuously scan your codebase, binaries, APIs, and infrastructure for this vulnerability class and related attack patterns. Our AI-powered detection engine combines static analysis with threat intelligence to identify exploitable weaknesses before attackers do.
Vulnerability Code Signature
Attack Data Flow
| Stage | Detail |
|---|---|
| Source | Network packet or file input |
| Vector | Data exceeds the allocated buffer bounds during a copy operation on the heap |
| Sink | strcpy(), memcpy(), or pointer arithmetic |
| Impact | Memory corruption, Remote Code Execution (RCE) |
Vulnerable Code Pattern
// ❌ VULNERABLE: Heap-based Buffer Overflow
void process_data(char *input) {
char *buffer = malloc(64);
// Taint sink: copies without bounds checking
strcpy(buffer, input);
}
Secure Code Pattern
// ✅ SECURE: Bounded copy
void process_data(char *input) {
char *buffer = malloc(64);
if (buffer != NULL) {
// Sanitized boundary check
strncpy(buffer, input, 63);
buffer[63] = '\0';
}
}
How Precogs Detects This
Precogs Binary SAST engine explicitly uncovers memory boundary violations and unsafe memory management functions in compiled binaries.\n