CVE-2024-10524: Wget SSRF Vulnerability

CVE-2024-10524 Overview

CVE-2024-10524 is a Server-Side Request Forgery (SSRF) vulnerability affecting GNU Wget, a widely-used command-line utility for retrieving files from the web. Applications that use Wget to access remote resources using shorthand URLs while passing arbitrary user credentials in the URL are vulnerable to this flaw. Attackers can craft malicious credentials that manipulate Wget into accessing an arbitrary host, potentially leading to unauthorized access to internal resources or data exfiltration.

Critical Impact

Attackers can redirect Wget requests to arbitrary hosts by injecting crafted credentials into shorthand URLs, enabling potential SSRF attacks against internal infrastructure.

Affected Products

• GNU Wget (versions prior to the patched commit)
• Applications and scripts that invoke Wget with shorthand URLs containing user credentials
• Systems running vulnerable Wget versions in automated download pipelines

Discovery Timeline

• 2024-11-19 - CVE-2024-10524 published to NVD
• 2025-03-21 - Last updated in NVD database

Technical Details for CVE-2024-10524

Vulnerability Analysis

This vulnerability stems from improper handling of shorthand URLs in GNU Wget when user credentials are embedded in the URL. The weakness is classified as CWE-918 (Server-Side Request Forgery), indicating that the application can be manipulated into making requests to unintended destinations.

When Wget parses a shorthand URL containing user credentials, it fails to properly validate and sanitize the credential portion of the URL. This parsing flaw allows an attacker to craft specially formatted credentials that, when processed, cause Wget to connect to an attacker-controlled host instead of the intended destination.

The attack surface is particularly concerning in automated systems or applications that construct Wget commands dynamically using user-supplied input for credentials. In such scenarios, an attacker could supply malicious credential values that exploit the parsing vulnerability to redirect the request to an arbitrary server.

Root Cause

The root cause of CVE-2024-10524 lies in insufficient input validation within Wget's URL parsing logic. When processing shorthand URLs (URLs that omit the protocol scheme), Wget's credential extraction routine does not adequately validate the boundary between the credential portion and the host portion of the URL. This allows specially crafted characters in the credential field to be misinterpreted as part of the hostname, effectively allowing an attacker to override the intended destination.

Attack Vector

The attack requires network access and exploits Wget's URL parsing behavior. An attacker can exploit this vulnerability in scenarios where:

1. An application uses Wget to fetch remote resources
2. The application accepts user-supplied credentials to include in the URL
3. Shorthand URL format is used (without explicit protocol scheme)

By providing crafted credentials containing special characters or specific patterns, the attacker can manipulate the parsed URL to point to a different host. This could be used to:

• Redirect requests to attacker-controlled servers to capture sensitive data
• Access internal network resources that should not be externally accessible
• Bypass security controls that rely on destination URL validation

The vulnerability is exploitable over the network without requiring authentication, though it does require specific application configurations that pass user credentials through Wget shorthand URLs. Detailed technical analysis and exploitation scenarios are documented in the JFrog CVE-2024-10524 Blog Post and the OSS-Sec Mailing List Discussion.

Detection Methods for CVE-2024-10524

Indicators of Compromise

• Unexpected outbound connections from systems running Wget to unknown or suspicious hosts
• Wget process logs showing connections to IP addresses or domains not matching expected destinations
• Network traffic analysis revealing Wget requests directed to internal resources from external-facing applications
• Anomalous credential patterns in application logs containing special characters or encoded sequences

Detection Strategies

• Monitor Wget process execution for unusual URL patterns or unexpected destination hosts
• Implement network-level detection for Wget user-agent strings connecting to non-whitelisted destinations
• Review application logs for malformed or suspicious credential inputs being passed to Wget commands
• Deploy endpoint detection rules to identify Wget invocations with shorthand URLs containing atypical credential formats

Monitoring Recommendations

• Enable verbose logging for applications that invoke Wget to capture full command-line arguments
• Implement network segmentation monitoring to detect unauthorized internal resource access via SSRF
• Configure alerting for Wget connections to private IP ranges or localhost from externally-triggered processes
• Regularly audit scripts and automation pipelines that use Wget to ensure proper input validation

How to Mitigate CVE-2024-10524

Immediate Actions Required

• Update GNU Wget to the latest version containing the security fix
• Review applications and scripts that use Wget with user-supplied credentials
• Implement strict input validation on any user-supplied data passed to Wget commands
• Consider using fully-qualified URLs (with explicit protocol schemes) instead of shorthand URLs
• Apply network-level restrictions to limit outbound connections from systems running Wget

Patch Information

GNU Wget developers have released a fix for this vulnerability. The patch is available in the GNU Wget Commit Update. Users should update their Wget installations to a version that includes this commit. Additionally, the NetApp Security Advisory provides vendor-specific guidance for affected NetApp products.

Workarounds

• Avoid using shorthand URLs when invoking Wget; always specify the full URL including the protocol scheme
• Sanitize and validate all user-supplied input before incorporating it into Wget commands
• Implement allowlist-based URL validation to restrict Wget destinations to known-safe hosts
• Use alternative HTTP clients with stricter URL parsing when possible
• Deploy network egress filtering to prevent connections to unauthorized destinations

# Configuration example - Use full URLs instead of shorthand
# Instead of: wget user:pass@example.com/file
# Use the full URL format:
wget --user=username --password=password https://example.com/file

# Alternatively, use separate credential options
wget --http-user=username --http-password=password https://example.com/file