VulnerabilityAwaiting Analysis

CVE-2026-72694

When the MRTG daemon is started as a root user and subsequently drops privileges, a local, low-privileged attacker can exploit a symbolic link (symlink) following vulnerability.

HIGH 7.1EPSS 0.13%

Does this matter?

High impact if exploited, but EPSS currently rates exploitation as unlikely (0.13%). Schedule it in the normal patch cycle and watch for a rise in EPSS or a public exploit.

Description

A flaw was found in MRTG. When the MRTG daemon is started as a root user and subsequently drops privileges, a local, low-privileged attacker can exploit a symbolic link (symlink) following vulnerability. By influencing or pre-placing a symlink in the process ID (PID) file path, the attacker can trick the root process into changing the ownership of an arbitrary existing file to the daemon user. This can lead to local privilege escalation, allowing unauthorized access to or modification of sensitive files.

CVSS 3.1: 7.1 HIGHCVSS:3.1/AV:L/AC:L/PR:L/UI:N/S:U/C:H/I:H/A:N
EPSS: 0.13% probability · 3th percentile
CISA KEV: Not listed
Weakness: CWE-59
Source: secalert@redhat.com

References

Source: NVD record, EPSS from FIRST.org, KEV from CISA. Refreshed daily.