CVE-2026-72694

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

HIGH
7.1
CVSS Score
Published: August 11, 2026 at 08:37 AM UTC
Updated: October 30, 2026 at 06:18 PM UTC
1 product affected across 1 vendorEnterprise Linux

Using Red Hat Enterprise Linux 10 by Red Hat?

Get instant alerts when new vulnerabilities affect Red Hat Enterprise Linux 10 - before attackers find them.

Real-time alertsTrack your software stackFree plan available
Severity
HIGH7.1
Exploit prediction
EPSS 0.1%
SSVC
No known 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.

Affected

Our own answer: ranges merged, affected separated from platform-only, with confidence and review flags.

All versions7
Vendor states this is fixed in 0:2.17.10-11.el10_0.1 (unaffected)
Vendor states this is fixed in 0:2.17.10-12.el10_2.1 (unaffected)
Vendor states this is fixed in 0:2.17.7-1.el8_10.1 (unaffected)
Vendor states this is fixed in 0:2.17.7-12.el9_8.1 (unaffected)
Vendor states this is fixed in 6 (unknown)

References (12)

VDB Entryx_refsource_REDHAT
Source: cverecord
https://access.redhat.com/security/cve/CVE-2026-72694
Issue Trackingx_refsource_REDHAT
Source: cverecord
https://bugzilla.redhat.com/show_bug.cgi?id=2460973
Vendor Advisoryx_refsource_REDHAT
Source: cverecord
https://access.redhat.com/errata/RHSA-2026:57596
Vendor Advisoryx_refsource_REDHAT
Source: cverecord
https://access.redhat.com/errata/RHSA-2026:57600
Vendor Advisoryx_refsource_REDHAT
Source: cverecord
https://access.redhat.com/errata/RHSA-2026:65832
Vendor Advisoryx_refsource_REDHAT
Source: cverecord
https://access.redhat.com/errata/RHSA-2026:87255
Vendor Advisoryx_refsource_REDHAT
Source: cverecord
https://access.redhat.com/errata/RHSA-2026:91644
Vendor Advisoryx_refsource_REDHAT
Source: cverecord
https://access.redhat.com/errata/RHSA-2026:91844

SSVC — Action Prioritization

SSVCNo known exploitNot automatableTotal impact

SSVC signals action urgency (what to patch first), separate from CVSS which measures severity.

CVSS

7.1HIGHredhat
Attack Vector
LOCAL
Complexity
LOW
Privileges
LOW
User Interaction
NONE
Scope
UNCHANGED
Confidentiality
HIGH
Integrity
HIGH
Availability
NONE
Vector?

Quick Info

StatusAWAITING ANALYSIS
CWE
CWE-59

Get alerted

Stop reading CVE feeds looking for your own stack

Track the products you run and VulnTracker tells you when a new CVE affects them — with what is known about fixing it, and nothing about the rest.

Free plan, no card