CVE-2024-5217: ServiceNow Platform RCE Vulnerability

CVE-2024-5217 Overview

CVE-2024-5217 is a critical input validation vulnerability affecting ServiceNow's Now Platform across the Washington DC, Vancouver, and earlier releases. This vulnerability enables an unauthenticated attacker to remotely execute arbitrary code within the context of the Now Platform, posing severe risks to organizations relying on ServiceNow for IT service management, workflow automation, and enterprise operations.

The vulnerability stems from improper input validation mechanisms that fail to adequately sanitize user-supplied data before processing. Attackers can exploit this flaw without any authentication, making it particularly dangerous for internet-exposed ServiceNow instances. ServiceNow addressed this vulnerability through security patches released during the June 2024 patching cycle.

Critical Impact

This vulnerability is listed in CISA's Known Exploited Vulnerabilities catalog and has an extremely high exploitation probability, enabling unauthenticated attackers to achieve remote code execution on vulnerable ServiceNow instances.

Affected Products

• ServiceNow Now Platform - Washington DC (all patches through patch 5)
• ServiceNow Now Platform - Vancouver (all patches through patch 9)
• ServiceNow Now Platform - Utah (all patches through patch 10b)

Discovery Timeline

• July 10, 2024 - CVE-2024-5217 published to NVD
• November 3, 2025 - Last updated in NVD database

Technical Details for CVE-2024-5217

Vulnerability Analysis

This input validation vulnerability allows unauthenticated remote code execution within the ServiceNow Now Platform. The vulnerability is classified under CWE-184 (Incomplete List of Disallowed Inputs) and CWE-697 (Incorrect Comparison), indicating that the platform fails to properly validate and compare input against a comprehensive blocklist of dangerous values.

The attack can be executed remotely over the network without requiring any user interaction or prior authentication. An attacker who successfully exploits this vulnerability gains the ability to execute arbitrary code within the context of the Now Platform, potentially leading to complete system compromise, data exfiltration, lateral movement within connected networks, and disruption of critical IT service management operations.

Given that ServiceNow instances often contain sensitive organizational data including incident records, asset information, user credentials, and integration configurations with other enterprise systems, successful exploitation poses significant risk to affected organizations.

Root Cause

The root cause of CVE-2024-5217 lies in inadequate input validation within the Now Platform. Specifically, the vulnerability is attributed to an incomplete list of disallowed inputs (CWE-184) combined with incorrect comparison logic (CWE-697). This combination allows attackers to craft malicious input that bypasses the platform's security filters and validation checks, ultimately enabling code execution.

The validation mechanism fails to account for all potentially dangerous input patterns, allowing specially crafted requests to reach code execution paths that should be protected. This architectural weakness in input handling creates the attack surface that threat actors are actively exploiting in the wild.

Attack Vector

The attack vector for CVE-2024-5217 is network-based, requiring no authentication or user interaction. An attacker can exploit this vulnerability by sending specially crafted requests to a vulnerable ServiceNow instance accessible over the network. The attack flow typically involves:

1. Identifying a vulnerable ServiceNow instance exposed to the network
2. Crafting malicious input designed to bypass incomplete input validation filters
3. Submitting the payload through an accessible endpoint
4. Achieving code execution within the Now Platform context

The vulnerability's network-accessible nature and lack of authentication requirements make it particularly attractive for opportunistic attackers scanning for exposed ServiceNow instances. According to Dark Reading's analysis, active exploitation of this vulnerability has been observed in the wild, with threat actors targeting organizations that have not applied the available patches.

Detection Methods for CVE-2024-5217

Indicators of Compromise

• Unexpected outbound network connections from ServiceNow servers to unknown external IP addresses
• Unusual process spawning or command execution on ServiceNow application servers
• Anomalous log entries indicating requests with malformed or suspicious input patterns
• Evidence of data exfiltration or unauthorized access to ServiceNow databases

Detection Strategies

• Deploy network intrusion detection systems to monitor for exploitation attempts targeting ServiceNow endpoints
• Implement web application firewall rules to detect and block suspicious input patterns targeting known vulnerable parameters
• Enable comprehensive logging on ServiceNow instances and forward logs to SIEM for analysis
• Monitor for signs of post-exploitation activity such as new user accounts, privilege changes, or modified configurations

Monitoring Recommendations

• Establish baseline network traffic patterns for ServiceNow instances and alert on deviations
• Configure alerts for failed authentication attempts followed by successful access without credentials
• Monitor ServiceNow system logs for error messages indicative of input validation bypass attempts
• Implement file integrity monitoring on ServiceNow server file systems to detect unauthorized modifications

How to Mitigate CVE-2024-5217

Immediate Actions Required

• Verify your ServiceNow instance version and patch level against the list of affected releases
• Apply the security patches released during the June 2024 patching cycle immediately
• Restrict network access to ServiceNow instances using firewall rules until patching is complete
• Review access logs for signs of exploitation attempts or compromise

Patch Information

ServiceNow has released security patches addressing CVE-2024-5217 as part of the June 2024 patching cycle. Organizations should consult the ServiceNow Knowledge Base Article KB1648313 for specific patch versions and deployment guidance.

Affected releases requiring patching include:

• Washington DC: Apply relevant June 2024 security patches
• Vancouver: Apply relevant June 2024 security patches
• Utah: Apply relevant June 2024 security patches

Organizations should prioritize patching given the critical nature of this vulnerability and its inclusion in CISA's Known Exploited Vulnerabilities catalog. Additional technical details are available in ServiceNow Knowledge Base Article KB1644293.

Workarounds

• Implement network segmentation to isolate ServiceNow instances from direct internet access
• Deploy a web application firewall with strict input validation rules as an interim protective measure
• Enable additional logging and monitoring to detect potential exploitation attempts while awaiting patch deployment
• Consider temporarily disabling non-essential ServiceNow features or endpoints until patches are applied

# Example: Network access restriction using firewall rules
# Restrict ServiceNow instance access to known trusted networks only
# Consult your firewall documentation for specific syntax

# Block external access to ServiceNow while permitting internal traffic
# iptables -A INPUT -p tcp --dport 443 -s TRUSTED_NETWORK_CIDR -j ACCEPT
# iptables -A INPUT -p tcp --dport 443 -j DROP

# Note: Apply patches from ServiceNow as the primary remediation
# See KB1648313 for official patch guidance