CVE-2026-72694

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

State: Published
Severity: 7.1 High
Published: Aug 11, 2026
Updated: Oct 30, 2026
Reserved: Aug 10, 2026

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.

Scores

CVSS	Score	Vector	Source
3.1	7.1 High	CVSS:3.1/AV:L/AC:L/PR:L/UI:N/S:U/C:H/I:H/A:N	redhat

Weaknesses

CWE-59 Improper Link Resolution Before File Access ('Link Following')

Affected Products

Product	Versions
Red Hat Enterprise Linux 10Red Hat	0:2.17.10-12.el10_2.1 and laterNot affected
Red Hat Enterprise Linux 10.0 Extended Update SupportRed Hat	0:2.17.10-11.el10_0.1 and laterNot affected
Red Hat Enterprise Linux 8Red Hat	0:2.17.7-1.el8_10.1 and laterNot affected
Red Hat Enterprise Linux 8.4 Advanced Mission Critical Update SupportRed Hat	0:2.17.7-1.el8_4.1 and laterNot affected
Red Hat Enterprise Linux 8.4 Extended Update Support Long-Life Add-OnRed Hat	0:2.17.7-1.el8_4.1 and laterNot affected
Red Hat Enterprise Linux 8.6 Advanced Mission Critical Update SupportRed Hat	0:2.17.7-1.el8_6.1 and laterNot affected
Red Hat Enterprise Linux 8.6 Extended Update Support Long-Life Add-OnRed Hat	0:2.17.7-1.el8_6.1 and laterNot affected
Red Hat Enterprise Linux 8.8 Telecommunications Update ServiceRed Hat	0:2.17.7-1.el8_8.1 and laterNot affected
Red Hat Enterprise Linux 8.8 Update Services for SAP SolutionsRed Hat	0:2.17.7-1.el8_8.1 and laterNot affected
Red Hat Enterprise Linux 9Red Hat	0:2.17.7-12.el9_8.1 and laterNot affected
Red Hat Enterprise Linux 9.2 Update Services for SAP SolutionsRed Hat	0:2.17.7-10.el9_2.1 and laterNot affected
Red Hat Enterprise Linux 9.4 Update Services for SAP SolutionsRed Hat	0:2.17.7-11.el9_4.1 and laterNot affected
Red Hat Enterprise Linux 9.6 Extended Update SupportRed Hat	0:2.17.7-11.el9_6.1 and laterNot affected
Red Hat Enterprise Linux 6Red Hat
Red Hat Enterprise Linux 7Red Hat

References

RHSA-2026:57596vendor-advisory
RHSA-2026:57600vendor-advisory
RHSA-2026:65832vendor-advisory
RHSA-2026:87255vendor-advisory
RHSA-2026:91644vendor-advisory
RHSA-2026:91843vendor-advisory
RHSA-2026:91844vendor-advisory
RHSA-2026:91845vendor-advisory
RHSA-2026:92051vendor-advisory
RHSA-2026:92071vendor-advisory
https://access.redhat.com/security/cve/CVE-2026-72694vdb-entry
RHBZ#2460973issue-tracking

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