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Vulnerability record · CVE-2026-72694 · published 11 August 2026

CVE-2026-72694: Link following 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. This can lead to local privilege escalation, allowing unauthorized access to or modification of sensitive files.

7.1 CVSS 3.1 High EPSS 0.17% · top 94.5% CWE-59 · Link following Awaiting Analysis
7.1CVSS 3.1 base score
0.17%EPSS exploitation probability, 30 days
NoNot in CISA KEV
0Affected product versions listed by NVD
5References
9 Sep 2026Last modified by NVD

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/AV:L/AC:L/PR:L/UI:N/S:U/C:H/I:H/A:N

References

LinkTags
https://access.redhat.com/errata/RHSA-2026:57596
https://access.redhat.com/errata/RHSA-2026:57600
https://access.redhat.com/errata/RHSA-2026:65832
https://access.redhat.com/security/cve/CVE-2026-72694
https://bugzilla.redhat.com/show_bug.cgi?id=2460973

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Source: NIST National Vulnerability Database (record CVE-2026-72694), CISA KEV, FIRST EPSS (scores of 2026-09-26). This page is refreshed as NVD updates the record.