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Hi, I'm Sharon, a product manager at Chaitin Tech. We build SafeLine, an open-source Web Application Firewall built for real-world threats. While SafeLine focuses on HTTP-layer protection, our emergency response center monitors and responds to RCE and authentication vulnerabilities across the stack to help developers stay safe.
In August 2024, security researchers disclosed partial details of a critical vulnerability affecting Windows Remote Desktop Licensing (RDL) Service, tracked as CVE-2024-38077. This vulnerability allows unauthenticated remote code execution (RCE) on affected servers — no user interaction required.
This bug impacts all Windows Server versions from 2000 to 2025 where RDL is enabled.
What Is RDL and Why Does It Matter?
The Remote Desktop Licensing Service is a Windows component used to manage Remote Desktop Services (RDS) licenses. While it's not enabled by default, many system administrators activate it to support more than the default two concurrent RDP sessions, especially in enterprise, VDI, or jump server environments.
Vulnerability Details
CVE-2024-38077 is a heap-based buffer overflow vulnerability found in how RDL handles license key packet decoding.
Root Cause:
The service fails to validate the size of decoded license data against the allocated buffer. An attacker can send a specially crafted packet to overflow the buffer and execute arbitrary code with system-level privileges.
- Attack vector: Network-based, no authentication
- Trigger: Sending crafted license packet to RDL service
- Impact: Full remote code execution on the server
Real-World Impact
If exploited successfully, this vulnerability can lead to:
- Full server takeover
- Data exfiltration or destruction
- Service disruption or crash
- Deployment of ransomware or remote access trojans
Exploit Status
- Exploit maturity: POC pseudocode has been published (not plug-and-play, but reproducible)
- Affected configuration: Only systems with RDL enabled
- User interaction: Not required
- Default config vulnerable: No (but commonly enabled in real-world deployments)
Affected Versions
All Windows Server editions from:
- Windows Server 2000
- through to Windows Server 2025
...are vulnerable if RDL is enabled.
How to Mitigate
Official Patch
- Microsoft has released security updates for this vulnerability in the July 2024 Patch Tuesday batch.
- Use Windows Update or manually download the patch for CVE-2024-38077 from Microsoft’s portal:
Microsoft Patch Guide – CVE-2024-38077
Temporary Workaround
- Disable the RDL service if not strictly required. This won’t affect Remote Desktop functionality itself but will limit concurrent session support.
Detection and Support
-
Muyun: Added detection support starting with signature version
VULN-24.07.011 - SafeLine WAF: Not applicable (non-HTTP protocol)
Timeline
- July 9, 2024 — Microsoft publishes official advisory and patch
- August 9, 2024 — Public technical details disclosed online
- August 9, 2024 — Emergency alert issued by Chaitin Security Response Center
References
Final Thoughts
This is a serious RCE that affects a wide range of Windows Server installations over two decades. Even though RDL is not enabled by default, it is widely used in enterprise settings, making it a high-risk attack surface.
If you maintain Windows infrastructure and RDL is active, patch immediately and restrict network exposure wherever possible.
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