CVE-2024-5960: Panel plaintext credential storage

CISO Take

CVE-2024-5960 is a critical plaintext password storage flaw (CWE-256) in the Panel Python package — credentials are held in cleartext, meaning any attacker with file-system or storage read access retrieves them without cracking a single hash. With a CVSS of 9.8 and a fully unauthenticated, zero-interaction network attack vector, the exploitation path is trivial: no specialized tooling required. The package carries 30 prior CVEs and an OpenSSF Scorecard of 6.5/10, signaling systemic security debt; 479 downstream dependents extend the blast radius to any ML platform consuming Panel transitively. Upgrade to Panel v2.3.24 or later immediately, audit configuration stores for cleartext credentials, and rotate any exposed domain service accounts.

Sources: NVD ATLAS OpenSSF

What is the risk?

Critical. Every CVSS exploitability dimension scores at maximum — network-accessible, low complexity, no privileges, no user interaction — with full C/I/A impact. The absence of a public exploit and KEV listing provides limited comfort: CWE-256 requires no cryptographic attack, so any read access to Panel storage is sufficient. For ML teams, Panel dashboards frequently run with elevated domain service account permissions adjacent to training infrastructure, making them a high-value lateral movement pivot. The pattern of 30 CVEs in the same package warrants broader architectural review beyond this single patch.

How does the attack unfold?

Initial Access

Attacker gains read access to a Panel instance configuration or storage through an adjacent vulnerability, misconfigured container permissions, or compromised developer workstation.

AML.T0049

Credential Extraction

Plaintext domain credentials are read directly from Panel's unprotected storage — no cryptographic attack required due to CWE-256 plaintext storage.

AML.T0055

Lateral Movement

Extracted domain credentials are replayed against Active Directory, cloud IAM, or internal ML services to authenticate as a legitimate privileged user.

AML.T0012

AI Infrastructure Compromise

Attacker accesses ML training pipelines, model registries, and proprietary data stores using the compromised domain account, enabling data exfiltration or covert model poisoning.

AML.T0025

Initial Access

Attacker gains read access to a Panel instance configuration or storage through an adjacent vulnerability, misconfigured container permissions, or compromised developer workstation.

AML.T0049

Credential Extraction

Plaintext domain credentials are read directly from Panel's unprotected storage — no cryptographic attack required due to CWE-256 plaintext storage.

AML.T0055

Lateral Movement

Extracted domain credentials are replayed against Active Directory, cloud IAM, or internal ML services to authenticate as a legitimate privileged user.

AML.T0012

AI Infrastructure Compromise

Attacker accesses ML training pipelines, model registries, and proprietary data stores using the compromised domain account, enabling data exfiltration or covert model poisoning.

AML.T0025

What systems are affected?

Package	Ecosystem	Vulnerable Range	Patched
Panel	pip	—	No patch
5.7K OpenSSF 6.5 479 dependents Pushed 6d ago 53% patched ~6d to patch Full package profile →

Do you use Panel? You're affected.

How severe is it?

CVSS 3.1

9.8 / 10

EPSS

N/A

Exploitation Status

No known exploitation

Sophistication

Trivial

What is the attack surface?

AV Network

AC Low

PR None

UI None

S Unchanged

C High

I High

A High

What should I do?

6 steps

Patch immediately: upgrade Panel to v2.3.24 or later — this is the only confirmed remediation.
Audit: scan Panel configuration files and persistent storage directories for plaintext credential entries using grep or file integrity tools.
Rotate: immediately rotate all domain credentials, API keys, and database passwords that Panel may have stored in cleartext — prioritize domain service accounts.
Network isolation: restrict Panel instances to internal networks with VPN or mTLS enforcement; block direct internet exposure.
Credential vaulting: migrate secrets to HashiCorp Vault, AWS Secrets Manager, or equivalent — eliminate application-level credential storage entirely.
Detection: alert on anomalous reads of Panel configuration directories from unexpected processes or source IPs; monitor for AD authentication attempts using Panel service account credentials from non-Panel hosts.

How is it classified?

Auth Bypass Data Extraction Privacy Violation Framework Inference AML.T0012 - Valid Accounts AML.T0055 - Unsecured Credentials AML.T0106 - Exploitation for Credential Access

Which compliance frameworks are affected?

This CVE is relevant to:

EU AI Act

Article 15 - Accuracy, robustness and cybersecurity

ISO 42001

A.9.4 - Access control to AI system components

NIST AI RMF

MANAGE 2.2 - Mechanisms to sustain effectiveness of risk responses

OWASP LLM Top 10

LLM02:2025 - Sensitive Information Disclosure

Frequently Asked Questions

What is CVE-2024-5960?

CVE-2024-5960 is a critical plaintext password storage flaw (CWE-256) in the Panel Python package — credentials are held in cleartext, meaning any attacker with file-system or storage read access retrieves them without cracking a single hash. With a CVSS of 9.8 and a fully unauthenticated, zero-interaction network attack vector, the exploitation path is trivial: no specialized tooling required. The package carries 30 prior CVEs and an OpenSSF Scorecard of 6.5/10, signaling systemic security debt; 479 downstream dependents extend the blast radius to any ML platform consuming Panel transitively. Upgrade to Panel v2.3.24 or later immediately, audit configuration stores for cleartext credentials, and rotate any exposed domain service accounts.

Is CVE-2024-5960 actively exploited?

No confirmed active exploitation of CVE-2024-5960 has been reported, but organizations should still patch proactively.

How to fix CVE-2024-5960?

1. Patch immediately: upgrade Panel to v2.3.24 or later — this is the only confirmed remediation. 2. Audit: scan Panel configuration files and persistent storage directories for plaintext credential entries using grep or file integrity tools. 3. Rotate: immediately rotate all domain credentials, API keys, and database passwords that Panel may have stored in cleartext — prioritize domain service accounts. 4. Network isolation: restrict Panel instances to internal networks with VPN or mTLS enforcement; block direct internet exposure. 5. Credential vaulting: migrate secrets to HashiCorp Vault, AWS Secrets Manager, or equivalent — eliminate application-level credential storage entirely. 6. Detection: alert on anomalous reads of Panel configuration directories from unexpected processes or source IPs; monitor for AD authentication attempts using Panel service account credentials from non-Panel hosts.

What systems are affected by CVE-2024-5960?

This vulnerability affects the following AI/ML architecture patterns: ML dashboard and visualization platforms, Model monitoring and observability tooling, Data science workbench environments, Enterprise ML platforms with AD/LDAP integration, Shared ML infrastructure with credential-adjacent deployments.

What is the CVSS score for CVE-2024-5960?

CVE-2024-5960 has a CVSS v3.1 base score of 9.8 (CRITICAL).

What is the AI security impact?

Affected AI Architectures

ML dashboard and visualization platformsModel monitoring and observability toolingData science workbench environmentsEnterprise ML platforms with AD/LDAP integrationShared ML infrastructure with credential-adjacent deployments

MITRE ATLAS Techniques

AML.T0012 Valid Accounts

AML.T0055 Unsecured Credentials

AML.T0106 Exploitation for Credential Access

Compliance Controls Affected

EU AI Act: Article 15

ISO 42001: A.9.4

NIST AI RMF: MANAGE 2.2

OWASP LLM Top 10: LLM02:2025

What are the technical details?

Original Advisory

Plaintext Storage of a Password vulnerability in Eliz Software Panel allows : Use of Known Domain Credentials. This issue affects Panel: before v2.3.24.

Exploitation Scenario

An attacker with initial access to an ML engineering environment — through a compromised developer workstation, misconfigured container bind-mount, or SSRF in an adjacent service — locates the Panel dashboard instance used for model monitoring. By reading Panel's configuration or database storage files (which contain domain passwords in plaintext per CWE-256), the attacker extracts credentials without any cryptographic attack. These credentials are replayed against Active Directory or cloud IAM, granting access to the organization's training pipeline orchestrator, model artifact storage (S3/GCS buckets with proprietary model weights), and potentially the model serving infrastructure, enabling either large-scale data exfiltration or covert model poisoning.

Weaknesses (CWE)

CWE-256 Plaintext Storage of a Password

CWE-256 — Plaintext Storage of a Password: The product stores a password in plaintext within resources such as memory or files.

[Architecture and Design] Avoid storing passwords in easily accessible locations.
[Architecture and Design] Consider storing cryptographic hashes of passwords as an alternative to storing in plaintext.

Source: MITRE CWE corpus.