VulnTideExploited vulnerabilities, by vendor. Data as of .
Not in CISA KEVPublished CVSS 7.1 highEPSS 0.1% probability of exploitation in 30 daysFound by AI: AISLE
Red Hat

CVE-2026-72694: Mrtg: mrtg daemon symlink-following chown allows local privilege escalation via pid file path manipulation

Is it exploited?

Not on CISA's list. CISA has not added it to the Known Exploited Vulnerabilities catalog as of . If CISA adds it, this page shows it as known exploited.

How likely is exploitation in the next 30 days?
0.1%

EPSS score, percentile 3 of all scored records. A probability estimated by FIRST, not a report of exploitation.

How severe?
7.1 High

CVSS v3.1 base score, given by the CNA

What should I do?

CISA has set no required action, because the vulnerability is not in KEV.

Advisories and patches (7)

Which versions are affected?

Unaffected 0:2.17.10-12.el10_2.1; 0:2.17.10-11.el10_0.1; 0:2.17.7-1.el8_10.1; 0:2.17.7-1.el8_6.1; 0:2.17.7-1.el8_6.1; 0:2.17.7-12.el9_8.1; and 2 more

Versions by product

Source: CISA KEV 2026.10.29, as of ; FIRST EPSS, as of ; CVE List, as of . About the data.

What to do

Workaround (from the CVE record)

To mitigate this issue, avoid starting the MRTG daemon as root with the `--daemon` option. Instead, configure MRTG to run directly as an unprivileged user. If root startup is strictly necessary, ensure that the PID file and its directory are owned by root and are not writable by unprivileged users, and prevent untrusted users from influencing the `--pid-file` path. Changes to service configuration may require a service restart to take effect.

Advisories and patches

This summary is based on the CVE record as of . Check the vendor's advisory before you act: affected versions and fixes can change.

Affected products and versions

As listed in the CVE record.

Red Hat Red Hat Enterprise Linux 10
StatusVersions
Unaffected0:2.17.10-12.el10_2.1

Versions not listed are: affected.

Red Hat Red Hat Enterprise Linux 10.0 Extended Update Support
StatusVersions
Unaffected0:2.17.10-11.el10_0.1

Versions not listed are: affected.

Red Hat Red Hat Enterprise Linux 8
StatusVersions
Unaffected0:2.17.7-1.el8_10.1

Versions not listed are: affected.

Red Hat Red Hat Enterprise Linux 8.6 Advanced Mission Critical Update Support
StatusVersions
Unaffected0:2.17.7-1.el8_6.1

Versions not listed are: affected.

Red Hat Red Hat Enterprise Linux 8.6 Extended Update Support Long-Life Add-On
StatusVersions
Unaffected0:2.17.7-1.el8_6.1

Versions not listed are: affected.

Red Hat Red Hat Enterprise Linux 9
StatusVersions
Unaffected0:2.17.7-12.el9_8.1

Versions not listed are: affected.

Red Hat Red Hat Enterprise Linux 9.4 Update Services for SAP Solutions
StatusVersions
Unaffected0:2.17.7-11.el9_4.1

Versions not listed are: affected.

Red Hat Red Hat Enterprise Linux 9.6 Extended Update Support
StatusVersions
Unaffected0:2.17.7-11.el9_6.1

Versions not listed are: affected.

Red Hat Red Hat Enterprise Linux 6
StatusVersions

Versions not listed are: unknown.

Red Hat Red Hat Enterprise Linux 7
StatusVersions

Versions not listed are: affected.

Versions the record lists as unaffected: 0:2.17.10-12.el10_2.1, 0:2.17.10-11.el10_0.1, 0:2.17.7-1.el8_10.1, 0:2.17.7-1.el8_6.1, 0:2.17.7-12.el9_8.1, 0:2.17.7-11.el9_4.1, 0:2.17.7-11.el9_6.1.

Source: CVE List, as of . About the data.

About this vulnerability

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. Th…

Summary: CVE record, as of .

  • CISA has not added CVE-2026-72694 to its Known Exploited Vulnerabilities (KEV) catalog, as of 29 Oct 2026.
  • The CVE record was published on 11 Aug 2026.
  • The CVE record carries a CVSS v3.1 base score of 7.1 (High), given by its CNA.
  • FIRST's EPSS model puts the probability of exploitation in the next 30 days at 0.1% (percentile 3), as of 29 Oct 2026. EPSS is a statistical estimate, not a report of exploitation.
  • CISA's SSVC assessment in the CVE record: exploitation none, automatable no, technical impact total.
  • The credits in the CVE record name AISLE as finder.

Source: CISA KEV 2026.10.29, as of ; CVE List, as of ; FIRST EPSS, as of . About the data.

Description

Mrtg: mrtg daemon symlink-following chown allows local privilege escalation via pid file path manipulation

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.

Source: CVE List, as of . About the data.

Weakness

CWE-59

CWE and CAPEC are maintained by MITRE; the entries are those named in the CVE record.

Timeline

DateEvent
CVE record published
CVE record last updated

References

2

Known exploited Red Hat vulnerabilities

  • CVE-2015-3246: Red Hat Libuser Race Condition Vulnerability (added )
  • CVE-2015-5287: Red Hat Automatic Bug Reporting Tool Privilege Escalation Vulnerability (added )
  • CVE-2018-14667: Red Hat JBoss RichFaces Framework Expression Language Injection Vulnerability (added )
  • CVE-2021-3560: Red Hat Polkit Incorrect Authorization Vulnerability (added )
  • CVE-2021-4034: Red Hat Polkit Out-of-Bounds Read and Write Vulnerability (added )