CVE-2016-9566
base/logging.c in Nagios Core before 4.2.4 allows local users with access to an account in the nagios group to gain root privileges via a symlink attack on the log file.
Does this matter?
A public exploit is published in Exploit-DB (verified) and the impact is high, while EPSS rates exploitation at 4.9%. Anyone can run this; patch or mitigate before the next change window and check exposed instances for signs of use.
Description
base/logging.c in Nagios Core before 4.2.4 allows local users with access to an account in the nagios group to gain root privileges via a symlink attack on the log file. NOTE: this can be leveraged by remote attackers using CVE-2016-9565.
- CVSS 3.0
- 7.8 HIGHCVSS:3.0/AV:L/AC:L/PR:L/UI:N/S:U/C:H/I:H/A:H
- EPSS
- 4.88% probability · 92th percentile
- Public exploits
- 1 in Exploit-DB · verified · first 15 December 2016
- CISA KEV
- Not listed
- Weakness
- CWE-59, CWE-264
- Affected
- nagios/nagios
- Source
- cve@mitre.org
EPSS 4.9% since 27 October 2026; no change recorded yet. Points are recorded when the score first appears and whenever it moves by a percentage point or more.
Public exploits (1)
Entries in Exploit-DB that cite this CVE. Links go to the Exploit-DB page and to the file in the public repository; nothing is hosted here. A verified tick means the Exploit-DB team confirmed the exploit works against the stated version.
References
- http://rhn.redhat.com/errata/RHSA-2017-0211.html
- http://rhn.redhat.com/errata/RHSA-2017-0212.html
- http://rhn.redhat.com/errata/RHSA-2017-0213.html
- http://rhn.redhat.com/errata/RHSA-2017-0214.html
- http://rhn.redhat.com/errata/RHSA-2017-0258.html
- http://rhn.redhat.com/errata/RHSA-2017-0259.html
- http://seclists.org/fulldisclosure/2016/Dec/58Mailing List, Third Party Advisory
- http://www.securityfocus.com/bid/94919Third Party Advisory, VDB Entry
- http://www.securitytracker.com/id/1037487
- https://bugzilla.redhat.com/show_bug.cgi?id=1402869Issue Tracking
- https://github.com/NagiosEnterprises/nagioscore/commit/c29557dec91eba2306f5fb11b8da4474ba63f8c4Issue Tracking, Patch
- https://legalhackers.com/advisories/Nagios-Exploit-Root-PrivEsc-CVE-2016-9566.htmlExploit, Third Party Advisory
- https://lists.debian.org/debian-lts-announce/2018/12/msg00014.html
- https://security.gentoo.org/glsa/201612-51
- https://security.gentoo.org/glsa/201702-26
- https://security.gentoo.org/glsa/201710-20
- https://www.exploit-db.com/exploits/40921/
- https://www.nagios.org/projects/nagios-core/history/4x/Vendor Advisory
- http://rhn.redhat.com/errata/RHSA-2017-0211.html
- http://rhn.redhat.com/errata/RHSA-2017-0212.html
- http://rhn.redhat.com/errata/RHSA-2017-0213.html
- http://rhn.redhat.com/errata/RHSA-2017-0214.html
- http://rhn.redhat.com/errata/RHSA-2017-0258.html
- http://rhn.redhat.com/errata/RHSA-2017-0259.html
- http://seclists.org/fulldisclosure/2016/Dec/58Mailing List, Third Party Advisory
- http://www.securityfocus.com/bid/94919Third Party Advisory, VDB Entry
- http://www.securitytracker.com/id/1037487
- https://bugzilla.redhat.com/show_bug.cgi?id=1402869Issue Tracking
- https://github.com/NagiosEnterprises/nagioscore/commit/c29557dec91eba2306f5fb11b8da4474ba63f8c4Issue Tracking, Patch
- https://legalhackers.com/advisories/Nagios-Exploit-Root-PrivEsc-CVE-2016-9566.htmlExploit, Third Party Advisory
Source: NVD record, EPSS from FIRST.org, KEV from CISA, exploits from Exploit-DB. Refreshed daily. Download this record as JSON.