---
id: CVE-2026-72694
title: A flaw was found in MRTG
summary: >-
  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 s…
severity: high
cvss: 7.1
cvssVector: 'CVSS:3.1/AV:L/AC:L/PR:L/UI:N/S:U/C:H/I:H/A:N'
cwe:
  - CWE-59
vendor: Red Hat
product: mrtg
affected:
  - mrtg (all versions)
  - mrtg (all versions)
  - mrtg (all versions)
  - mrtg
  - mrtg (all versions)
published: '2026-08-11'
updated: '2026-09-09'
sourceUpdated: '2026-09-09T10:20:53.097'
source: NVD
sourceUrl: 'https://nvd.nist.gov/vuln/detail/CVE-2026-72694'
references:
  - url: 'https://access.redhat.com/errata/RHSA-2026:57596'
    label: secalert@redhat.com
  - url: 'https://access.redhat.com/errata/RHSA-2026:57600'
    label: secalert@redhat.com
  - url: 'https://access.redhat.com/errata/RHSA-2026:65832'
    label: secalert@redhat.com
  - url: 'https://access.redhat.com/security/cve/CVE-2026-72694'
    label: secalert@redhat.com
  - url: 'https://bugzilla.redhat.com/show_bug.cgi?id=2460973'
    label: secalert@redhat.com
  - url: >-
      https://security.access.redhat.com/data/csaf/v2/vex/2026/cve-2026-72694.json
  - url: 'https://www.cve.org/CVERecord?id=CVE-2026-72694'
  - url: 'https://nvd.nist.gov/vuln/detail/CVE-2026-72694'
tags:
  - nvd
  - cve.org
  - csaf
  - vex
  - red-hat
ssvc:
  exploitation: none
  automatable: 'no'
  technicalImpact: total
  timestamp: '2026-08-12T15:35:08.035360Z'
epss: 0.00168
epssPercentile: 0.05411
ingestedAt: '2026-09-09T10:06:16.501Z'
patched:
  - enterprise_linux_appstream_v_10
  - enterprise_linux_appstream_v_8
  - enterprise_linux_appstream_v_9
---

## Overview

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.

## Remediation

Refer to the linked advisories for vendor-supplied fixes and affected version ranges.

## Vendor advisories

- **RHSA-2026:57596** · Red Hat · fixed in: Red Hat Enterprise Linux AppStream (v. 10) · released 2026-08-20 · [advisory](https://access.redhat.com/errata/RHSA-2026:57596)
- **RHSA-2026:65832** · Red Hat · fixed in: Red Hat Enterprise Linux AppStream (v. 8) · released 2026-09-09 · [advisory](https://access.redhat.com/errata/RHSA-2026:65832)
- **RHSA-2026:57600** · Red Hat · fixed in: Red Hat Enterprise Linux AppStream (v. 9) · released 2026-08-20 · [advisory](https://access.redhat.com/errata/RHSA-2026:57600)
- **Red Hat VEX** · Important · affected: Red Hat Enterprise Linux 6, Red Hat Enterprise Linux 7 · no fix planned: Red Hat Enterprise Linux 6, Red Hat Enterprise Linux 7 · updated 2026-09-09 · [vex](https://security.access.redhat.com/data/csaf/v2/vex/2026/cve-2026-72694.json)