CVE-2024-41942: JupyterHub has a privilege escalation vulnerability with the `admin:users` scope

Published Aug 8, 2024
·
Updated

### Summary If a user is granted the `admin:users` scope, they may escalate their own privileges by making themselves a full admin user. ### Details The `admin:users` scope allows a user to edit user records: > admin:users > > Read, write, create and delete users and their authentication state, not including their servers or tokens. > > -- https://jupyterhub.readthedocs.io/en/stable/rbac/scopes.html#available-scopes However, this includes making users admins. Admin users are granted scopes beyond `admin:users` making this a mechanism by which granted scopes may be escalated. ### Impact The impact is relatively small in that `admin:users` is already an extremely privileged scope only granted to trusted users. In effect, `admin:users` is equivalent to `admin=True`, which is not intended. Note that the change here only prevents escalation to the built-in JupyterHub admin role that has unrestricted permissions. It does not prevent users with e.g. `groups` permissions from granting themselves or other users permissions via group membership, which is intentional.

Affected Software

8 affected componentsFixes available
pip/jupyterhub>=5.0.0<5.1.0
5.1.0
pip/jupyterhub<4.1.6
4.1.6
IBM Cognos Analytics<=12.0.0-12.0.4
IBM Cognos Analytics<=11.2.0-11.2.4 FP4
jupyter JupyterHub<4.1.6
jupyter JupyterHub=5.0.0
jupyter JupyterHub=5.0.0-beta1
jupyter JupyterHub=5.0.0-beta2

Event History

Aug 8, 2024
CVE Published
via MITRE·02:36 PM
Data Sourced
via MITRE·02:36 PM
DescriptionSeverityWeakness
Advisory Published
via GitHub·02:37 PM
Feb 4, 2025
Data Sourced
via IBM·12:00 AM
DescriptionAffected Software
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Frequently Asked Questions

1

What is the severity of CVE-2024-41942?

CVE-2024-41942 has a critical severity level due to the potential for privilege escalation.

2

How do I fix CVE-2024-41942?

To remediate CVE-2024-41942, upgrade to JupyterHub version 5.1.0 or above.

3

Which software versions are affected by CVE-2024-41942?

CVE-2024-41942 affects JupyterHub versions up to 5.0.0 and below, including several beta versions.

4

What type of vulnerability is CVE-2024-41942?

CVE-2024-41942 is a privilege escalation vulnerability.

5

Can users without admin:users scope exploit CVE-2024-41942?

Yes, users who have been granted the admin:users scope can exploit CVE-2024-41942 to escalate their privileges.

Contact

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