CVE-2025-24817: Nokia MantaRay NM RCE Vulnerability

CVE-2025-24817 Overview

Nokia MantaRay NM is vulnerable to an OS command injection vulnerability due to improper neutralization of special elements used in an OS command in the Symptom Collector application. This vulnerability (CWE-78) allows attackers with low-privilege access on an adjacent network to execute arbitrary operating system commands, potentially leading to complete system compromise.

Critical Impact

Successful exploitation enables attackers to execute arbitrary OS commands with elevated privileges, potentially resulting in full system compromise, data exfiltration, and lateral movement within the network management infrastructure.

Affected Products

• Nokia MantaRay NM (Symptom Collector application)

Discovery Timeline

• 2026-04-07 - CVE CVE-2025-24817 published to NVD
• 2026-04-08 - Last updated in NVD database

Technical Details for CVE-2025-24817

Vulnerability Analysis

This OS command injection vulnerability exists within the Symptom Collector application component of Nokia MantaRay NM. The flaw stems from inadequate input validation where user-controlled data is passed directly to operating system command execution functions without proper sanitization. An attacker on an adjacent network segment who has obtained low-privilege authentication can craft malicious input containing shell metacharacters or command separators that bypass intended command boundaries.

The vulnerability requires network adjacency for exploitation, meaning the attacker must be on the same network segment as the target system. While this limits remote exploitation from the internet, it presents significant risk in enterprise environments where network management systems are often deployed on management VLANs accessible to multiple administrators and systems.

Root Cause

The root cause is improper neutralization of special elements used in OS commands (CWE-78). The Symptom Collector application fails to adequately sanitize user-supplied input before incorporating it into operating system command execution. Special characters such as semicolons (;), pipes (|), backticks (`), and command substitution sequences ($(...)) are not properly escaped or filtered, allowing attackers to break out of the intended command context and inject arbitrary commands.

Attack Vector

The attack requires adjacent network access with low-privilege authentication to the MantaRay NM system. An authenticated attacker can submit crafted input to the Symptom Collector application containing OS command injection payloads. When the application processes this input, it constructs and executes shell commands without proper input validation, causing the injected commands to execute with the privileges of the application process.

The vulnerability mechanism involves user input being concatenated directly into command strings. When the application invokes shell execution functions with these unsanitized strings, the attacker's injected commands are interpreted and executed by the underlying operating system. For detailed technical information, refer to the Nokia Security Advisory for CVE-2025-24817.

Detection Methods for CVE-2025-24817

Indicators of Compromise

• Unusual process spawning from the Symptom Collector application or its parent process
• Suspicious command-line arguments containing shell metacharacters (;, |, &, `, $())
• Unexpected network connections originating from the MantaRay NM server
• Anomalous file system modifications or new files created in unexpected locations
• Authentication logs showing access to Symptom Collector followed by suspicious system activity

Detection Strategies

• Monitor process creation events for child processes spawned by the Symptom Collector application
• Implement network traffic analysis for unusual outbound connections from the management system
• Enable comprehensive logging on the MantaRay NM system and forward logs to a SIEM for correlation
• Deploy endpoint detection and response (EDR) solutions capable of detecting command injection patterns

Monitoring Recommendations

• Configure alerts for shell metacharacter patterns in application input logs
• Establish baseline behavior for the Symptom Collector application and alert on deviations
• Monitor for privilege escalation attempts following authenticated sessions
• Implement file integrity monitoring on critical system directories

How to Mitigate CVE-2025-24817

Immediate Actions Required

• Apply vendor-provided security patches from Nokia immediately
• Restrict network access to MantaRay NM to only authorized management stations
• Review and limit user accounts with access to the Symptom Collector functionality
• Enable enhanced logging and monitoring on the affected systems
• Segment network management infrastructure from general user networks

Patch Information

Nokia has released a security advisory addressing this vulnerability. Organizations should consult the Nokia Security Advisory for CVE-2025-24817 for specific patch versions and installation instructions. Apply the latest security updates to remediate this command injection vulnerability.

Workarounds

• Implement strict network segmentation to limit adjacent network access to the MantaRay NM system
• Apply principle of least privilege by restricting user accounts that can access Symptom Collector
• Deploy web application firewall (WAF) or input filtering rules to block common command injection patterns
• Consider disabling the Symptom Collector feature if not operationally required until patches are applied

# Network access restriction example (firewall rule)
# Restrict access to MantaRay NM management interface to specific admin subnets
iptables -A INPUT -p tcp --dport 443 -s 10.0.100.0/24 -j ACCEPT
iptables -A INPUT -p tcp --dport 443 -j DROP