Response playbooks, investigation guides, and Atomic Red Team tests are Pro-only. Upgrade to unlock the full detection package for CVE-2024-23897.
Upgrade to ProDetect CVE-2024-23897: Jenkins Arbitrary File Read via CLI Argument Parser (Pre-Auth RCE Chain) in Splunk
CVE-2024-23897 is a critical path traversal vulnerability (CWE-22) in Jenkins' built-in CLI argument parser (args4j). The parser expands file contents prefixed with '@' as command arguments, allowing unauthenticated attackers to read arbitrary files from the Jenkins controller filesystem — including secrets, credentials, and SSH keys. When combined with additional weaknesses (e.g., exposed Remember Me tokens or cryptographic keys), this chain enables unauthenticated remote code execution. CVSS 9.8. Actively exploited (CISA KEV). Affects Jenkins <= 2.441 and LTS <= 2.426.2.
MITRE ATT&CK
SPL Detection Query
index=* sourcetype IN ("access_combined", "apache:access", "nginx:plus:kv", "iis", "pan:traffic", "cisco:asa", "suricata", "zeek:http")
| eval uri=coalesce(uri, cs_uri_stem, request, url)
| eval method=coalesce(method, cs_method, http_method)
| eval src_ip=coalesce(src_ip, c_ip, clientip, src)
| where (match(uri, "/cli") OR match(uri, "remoting/legacy"))
AND (method="POST" OR method="GET")
AND (
match(uri, "@\.\./") OR match(uri, "@/etc/") OR match(uri, "@/var/jenkins") OR
match(uri, "@/root") OR match(uri, "@.*secret") OR match(uri, "@.*passwd") OR
match(uri, "@.*credentials") OR match(uri, "@.*id_rsa")
)
| eval cve="CVE-2024-23897"
| eval severity="critical"
| stats count AS attempt_count, values(uri) AS uris, values(method) AS methods, dc(uri) AS unique_paths
BY src_ip, dest, cve, severity, sourcetype
| where attempt_count >= 1
| eval risk_score=case(
attempt_count >= 10, 100,
attempt_count >= 3, 85,
true(), 70
)
| sort - risk_scoreDetects CVE-2024-23897 exploitation attempts across HTTP access logs and network security logs by identifying POST/GET requests to Jenkins CLI/remoting endpoints containing '@'-prefixed path traversal or sensitive file read patterns. Aggregates by source IP for volume analysis and computes a risk score.
Data Sources
Required Sourcetypes
False Positives & Tuning
- Authenticated Jenkins CLI automation using '@'-prefixed arguments for legitimate file inclusion in build pipelines
- Automated vulnerability scanners (Tenable, Qualys, Rapid7) with authorized scan credentials
- Security operations tools performing authorized Jenkins configuration audits
- Load balancer health checks that probe CLI endpoints with unusual URI patterns
Other platforms for CVE-2024-23897
Testing Methodology
Validate this detection against 3 adversary techniques from Atomic Red Team. Each test below lists the behaviour to exercise and the telemetry you should expect to see. Executable commands and cleanup steps are available with Pro.
- Test 1Unauthenticated Jenkins CLI File Read via args4j @ Expansion
Expected signal: POST request to /cli with '@/etc/passwd' in body; HTTP 200 response with non-empty body containing passwd file contents; OS-level file open event for /etc/passwd initiated by jenkins process
- Test 2Jenkins master.key Extraction for Credential Decryption
Expected signal: Three sequential POST requests to /cli targeting secrets/master.key, secrets/hudson.util.Secret, and credentials.xml; file access events (auditd/Sysmon) for all three files initiated by the Jenkins JVM process; HTTP 200 responses with non-trivial body sizes
- Test 3Jenkins CLI Path Traversal via Remoting Legacy Endpoint
Expected signal: POST requests to /remoting/legacy and /cli with '@' file arguments; path traversal sequences in URI or body; file access events for .ssh/id_rsa; HTTP responses with key material in body
Unlock playbooks & atomic tests with Pro
Get the full detection package for CVE-2024-23897 — response playbook and atomic red team tests, plus investigation guidance and hunting queries.
df00tech Pro — £29/user/month