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high · CVSS 7.1

CVE-2026-72694

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

Published 11 Aug 2026 · Source updated 4 Nov 2026 · Retrieved 2026-11-04 23:20 UTC

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What happened?

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.

Description supplied by CVE Program. Formatting is simplified; follow the original advisory for full details.

Affected software and versions

Source-provided software and version information
SoftwareVersion informationFixed version
mrtgRed Hatunaffected: 0:2.17.10-12.el10_2.1 to < *See vendor advisory
mrtgRed Hatunaffected: 0:2.17.10-11.el10_0.1 to < *See vendor advisory
mrtgRed Hatunaffected: 0:2.17.7-1.el8_10.1 to < *See vendor advisory
mrtgRed Hatunaffected: 0:2.17.7-1.el8_4.1 to < *See vendor advisory
mrtgRed Hatunaffected: 0:2.17.7-1.el8_4.1 to < *See vendor advisory
mrtgRed Hatunaffected: 0:2.17.7-1.el8_6.1 to < *See vendor advisory
mrtgRed Hatunaffected: 0:2.17.7-1.el8_6.1 to < *See vendor advisory
mrtgRed Hatunaffected: 0:2.17.7-1.el8_8.1 to < *See vendor advisory
mrtgRed Hatunaffected: 0:2.17.7-1.el8_8.1 to < *See vendor advisory
mrtgRed Hatunaffected: 0:2.17.7-12.el9_8.1 to < *See vendor advisory
mrtgRed Hatunaffected: 0:2.17.7-10.el9_2.1 to < *See vendor advisory
mrtgRed Hatunaffected: 0:2.17.7-11.el9_4.1 to < *See vendor advisory
mrtgRed Hatunaffected: 0:2.17.7-11.el9_6.1 to < *See vendor advisory
mrtgRed HatDefault status: unknownSee vendor advisory
mrtgRed HatDefault status: affectedSee vendor advisory

Version information comes from the source record and can include unaffected products and exceptions. Distribution packages may contain backported fixes: an older upstream version alone does not prove a server is affected.

Is it being exploited?

This CVE was not listed in the CISA catalogue at our last retrieval. This does not establish that exploitation is absent.

CISA data retrieved 2026-11-06 16:38 UTC. Check CISA ↗

How to respond

  1. Confirm the product, installed package version, and any configuration requirements in the vendor advisory.
  2. Follow the vendor’s remediation or workaround guidance in the references below. Structured fixed-version data is unavailable here; the publisher’s description may include a fix or workaround.
  3. Restart affected services if required, then verify the running version. Known exploitation may warrant investigation as well as patching.

Sources and remediation references

This public advisory does not determine whether a particular server is affected. Records are refreshed as sources change; verify urgent decisions against the original advisory.

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