{"id":76016,"date":"2025-09-20T08:09:22","date_gmt":"2025-09-20T08:09:22","guid":{"rendered":""},"modified":"2025-09-27T15:39:39","modified_gmt":"2025-09-27T21:39:39","slug":"cve-2024-41921-code-injection-vulnerability-in-robot-operating-system-s-rostopic-command-line-tool","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.ameeba.com\/blog\/cve-2024-41921-code-injection-vulnerability-in-robot-operating-system-s-rostopic-command-line-tool\/","title":{"rendered":"CVE-2024-41921: Code Injection Vulnerability in Robot Operating System’s rostopic Command-Line Tool<\/strong>"},"content":{"rendered":"

Overview<\/strong><\/p>\n

In the arena of cybersecurity, a new vulnerability has emerged that poses a serious threat to a prevailing operating system utilized by robots worldwide. This vulnerability, officially identified as CVE-2024-41921, is a code injection vulnerability specifically found in the ‘rostopic’ command-line tool of the Robot Operating System (ROS). This issue is of paramount importance as it potentially exposes ROS distributions, specifically Noetic Ninjemys and earlier, to a risk of system compromise<\/a> or data leakage.
\nThe significance of this vulnerability lies in its ability to let a local user craft and execute arbitrary code on the system, ultimately compromising the security of the system and possibly leading<\/a> to the unauthorized extraction of sensitive data.<\/p>\n

Vulnerability Summary<\/strong><\/p>\n

CVE ID: CVE-2024-41921
\nSeverity: High, with a CVSS Severity Score of 7.8
\nAttack Vector: Local
\nPrivileges Required: Low
\nUser Interaction: Required
\nImpact: A successful exploit could result in system compromise and potential<\/a> data leakage<\/p>\n

Affected Products<\/strong><\/p>\n

Product | Affected Versions<\/p>\n

Robot Operating<\/a> System (ROS) | Noetic Ninjemys and earlier<\/p>\n

How the Exploit Works<\/strong><\/p>\n

The vulnerability exists in the ‘echo’ verb of the ‘rostopic’ command-line<\/a> tool within ROS. This verb allows a user to introspect a ROS topic and accepts a Python expression from the user via the –filter option. Unfortunately, this input is passed directly to the eval() function without any form of sanitization.
\nThis lack of sanitization means that a local user can craft a Python expression that executes arbitrary code<\/a> when the eval() function is called. This could potentially compromise the entire system or lead<\/a> to data leaks.<\/p>\n

Conceptual Example Code<\/strong><\/p>\n

The following is a conceptual example of how the vulnerability might be exploited.<\/p>\n

rostopic echo \/rosout --filter=\"eval(__import__('os').system('malicious_command'))\"<\/code><\/pre>\n
In the above example, the –filter option is used to import the os module and execute a malicious command<\/a>. This command could be anything from a simple system information query to a more harmful command like deleting files or uploading<\/a> data to a remote server.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
Overview In the arena of cybersecurity, a new vulnerability has emerged that poses a serious threat to a prevailing operating system utilized by robots worldwide. This vulnerability, officially identified as CVE-2024-41921, is a code injection vulnerability specifically found in the ‘rostopic’ command-line tool of the Robot Operating System (ROS). This issue is of paramount importance […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"om_disable_all_campaigns":false,"_monsterinsights_skip_tracking":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"vendor":[],"product":[],"attack_vector":[78],"asset_type":[],"severity":[],"exploit_status":[],"class_list":["post-76016","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-uncategorized","attack_vector-injection"],"aioseo_notices":[],"aioseo_head":"\n\t\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t