CVE-2024-43378

calamares-nixos-extensions LUKS keyfile exposure regression on legacy BIOS systems

HIGH
7.8
CVSS Score
Published: August 15, 2024 at 11:53 PM UTC
Updated: June 17, 2026 at 07:50 AM UTC
1 product affected across 1 vendorCalamares Nixos Extensions

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Severity
HIGH7.8
Exploit prediction
EPSS 0.1%
SSVC
No known exploit

Description

calamares-nixos-extensions provides Calamares branding and modules for NixOS, a distribution of GNU/Linux. Users who installed NixOS through the graphical installer who used manual disk partitioning to create a setup where the system was booted via legacy BIOS rather than UEFI; some disk partitions are encrypted; but the partitions containing either `/` or `/boot` are unencrypted; have their LUKS disk encryption key file in plain text either in `/crypto_keyfile.bin`, or in a CPIO archive attached to their NixOS initrd. `nixos-install` is not affected, nor are UEFI installations, nor was the default automatic partitioning configuration on legacy BIOS systems. The problem has been fixed in calamares-nixos-extensions 0.3.17, which was included in NixOS. The current installer images for the NixOS 24.05 and unstable (24.11) channels are unaffected. The fix reached 24.05 at 2024-08-13 20:06:59 UTC, and unstable at 2024-08-15 09:00:20 UTC. Installer images downloaded before those times may be vulnerable. The best solution for affected users is probably to back up their data and do a complete reinstallation. However, the mitigation procedure in GHSA-3rvf-24q2-24ww should work solely for the case where `/` is encrypted but `/boot` is not. If `/` is unencrypted, then the `/crypto_keyfile.bin` file will need to be deleted in addition to the remediation steps in the previous advisory. This issue is a partial regression of CVE-2023-36476 / GHSA-3rvf-24q2-24ww, which was more severe as it applied to the default configuration on BIOS systems.

Affected

Our own answer: ranges merged, affected separated from platform-only, with confidence and review flags.

v < 0.3.17
Affected range stops below 0.3.17, so it looks safe — our inference, not a vendor statement

Remediation

No guide yet

No remediation guidance has been written for this CVE yet, and no fixed version or vendor advisory is recorded against it.

SSVC — Action Prioritization

SSVCNo known exploitNot automatableTotal impact

SSVC signals action urgency (what to patch first), separate from CVSS which measures severity.

CVSS

7.8HIGHGitHub_M
Attack Vector
LOCAL
Complexity
HIGH
Privileges
NONE
User Interaction
NONE
Scope
CHANGED
Confidentiality
HIGH
Integrity
HIGH
Availability
NONE
Vector?

Quick Info

StatusDEFERRED
CWE
CWE-256

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