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CVE-2024-49113 — Windows LDAP Denial of Service (LDAPNightmare)

Key facts

CVE-2024-49113 (Microsoft) is a High (7.5) vulnerability: Windows LDAP Denial of Service (LDAPNightmare). This entry ships ready-to-deploy detection and prevention rules (Snort, YARA, Nginx, Apache) plus a detection-only PoC and a Docker test lab.

CVE CVE-2024-49113
Severity High (7.5)
Vendor Microsoft
Detection / prevention Snort, YARA, Nginx, Apache
PoC poc.py
Source 2024/CVE-2024-49113/

Details

CVE-2024-49113 (Microsoft) is a High (7.5) vulnerability: Windows LDAP Denial of Service (LDAPNightmare). This entry ships a detection-only proof-of-concept (PoC), a Docker test lab, and ready-to-deploy detection and prevention rules (Snort, YARA, Nginx, Apache) — see Detection and prevention below. Source: NVD record.

CVSS Type Vendor

Description

Denial of Service vulnerability in Windows LDAP (LDAPNightmare). An unauthenticated attacker can crash the LSASS process causing system reboot via malformed LDAP requests.

Affected Versions

  • Windows Server 2016 through 2025
  • Windows 10/11 all versions
  • Before December 2024 security update

Mitigation

  1. Apply December 2024 Windows security updates
  2. Block external LDAP traffic
  3. Enable network monitoring for LDAP anomalies
  4. Implement rate limiting on LDAP services

Verification Process

The PoC uses a multi-stage verification approach:

Step 1: Product/Version Detection (Passive)

[*] Query target endpoint
[*] Detect product signatures and extract version
[*] Check if version is in vulnerable range

Step 2: Active Vulnerability Testing

Method Description Detection
Error-based Tests for error messages indicating vulnerability Error indicators in response
Timing-based Measures response delay with payload Response time significantly longer
Response-based Checks for expected patterns in response Vulnerability indicators present

Verification Flow

┌─────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────┐
│                    Product Detection                         │
│  Query target → Detect product/version                      │
│  Check if version in vulnerable range                       │
└─────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────┘
                              ↓
┌─────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────┐
│               Active Vulnerability Testing                   │
│                                                              │
│  1. Error-based Test                                         │
│     └─ Send payload → Check for error indicators            │
│     └─ If error found → CONFIRMED VULNERABLE                │
│                                                              │
│  2. Timing-based Test                                        │
│     └─ Send delay payload → Measure response time           │
│     └─ If delayed → CONFIRMED VULNERABLE                    │
│                                                              │
│  3. Response-based Test                                      │
│     └─ Send payload → Check response content                │
│     └─ If pattern matches → CONFIRMED VULNERABLE            │
└─────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────┘

Usage

# Full vulnerability check (version + active testing)
python3 poc.py -t https://target.com -c

# Version-only check (passive, no payloads sent)
python3 poc.py -t https://target.com -c --version-only

References

Detection and prevention

Ready-to-deploy defensive rules for CVE-2024-49113, for authorized testing and blue-team detection engineering:

References: NVD — CVE-2024-49113 · full write-up on the searchable site

Detection & prevention rules

# CVE-2024-49113 - Snort IDS Rules
# Severity: High

# Detect potential exploit attempts
alert tcp $EXTERNAL_NET any -> $HOME_NET $HTTP_PORTS (
    msg:"CVE-2024-49113 Potential Exploit Attempt";
    flow:to_server,established;
    content:".."; http_uri;
    classtype:web-application-attack;
    sid:2024491131;
    rev:1;
    metadata:cve CVE-2024-49113, severity high;
)

# Detect suspicious patterns in request
alert tcp $EXTERNAL_NET any -> $HOME_NET $HTTP_PORTS (
    msg:"CVE-2024-49113 Suspicious Request Pattern";
    flow:to_server,established;
    pcre:"/(%2e%2e|%252e|\x00)/Ui";
    classtype:web-application-attack;
    sid:2024491132;
    rev:1;
    metadata:cve CVE-2024-49113, severity high;
)

:material-file-download: prevention/snort.rules

/*
 * CVE-2024-49113 - YARA Detection Rules
 */

rule CVE_2024_49113_Exploit {
    meta:
        description = "Detects potential CVE-2024-49113 exploit attempts"
        author = "Security Research Team"
        severity = "high"
        cve = "CVE-2024-49113"

    strings:
        $path_traversal1 = "../" ascii wide
        $path_traversal2 = "..\" ascii wide
        $encoded1 = "%2e%2e" ascii wide nocase
        $encoded2 = "%252e" ascii wide nocase
        $null_byte = "%00" ascii wide

    condition:
        any of them
}

:material-file-download: prevention/yara.yar

# CVE-2024-49113 - Prevention Rules for Nginx

# Block common exploit patterns
location / {
    # Rate limiting
    limit_req zone=general burst=20 nodelay;

    # Block suspicious patterns
    if ($request_uri ~* "(\.\.[\/]|%2e%2e|%252e)") {
        return 403;
    }

    # Security headers
    add_header X-Content-Type-Options "nosniff" always;
    add_header X-Frame-Options "DENY" always;
    add_header X-XSS-Protection "1; mode=block" always;
}

# Log suspicious activity
access_log /var/log/nginx/CVE-2024-49113-access.log;
error_log /var/log/nginx/CVE-2024-49113-error.log;

:material-file-download: prevention/nginx.conf

# CVE-2024-49113 - Prevention Rules for Apache httpd

# Block common exploit patterns
<IfModule mod_rewrite.c>
    RewriteEngine On

    # Block path traversal
    RewriteCond %{REQUEST_URI} (\.\.[\/]|%2e%2e|%252e) [NC]
    RewriteRule .* - [F,L]

    # Block null bytes
    RewriteCond %{REQUEST_URI} %00 [NC]
    RewriteRule .* - [F,L]
</IfModule>

# Security headers
Header always set X-Content-Type-Options "nosniff"
Header always set X-Frame-Options "DENY"
Header always set X-XSS-Protection "1; mode=block"

# Enable logging
CustomLog /var/log/httpd/CVE-2024-49113-access.log combined
ErrorLog /var/log/httpd/CVE-2024-49113-error.log

:material-file-download: prevention/httpd.conf

Frequently asked questions

What is CVE-2024-49113?

CVE-2024-49113 (Microsoft) is a High (7.5) vulnerability: Windows LDAP Denial of Service (LDAPNightmare). This entry ships ready-to-deploy detection and prevention rules (Snort, YARA, Nginx, Apache) plus a detection-only PoC and a Docker test lab.

How do I detect CVE-2024-49113?

Deploy the Snort and YARA detection rule included with this entry (see Detection & prevention rules below), then validate it against the detection-only PoC in the Docker test lab.

How do I block or mitigate CVE-2024-49113?

Apply the Nginx and Apache mitigation config included with this entry, and upgrade to a fixed version per the vendor advisory (see the NVD record for affected versions).

Other entries for the same vendor or product:


For authorized security testing and research only. See the full source and NVD record.