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Actively exploited in the wild. This CVE is on the CISA Known Exploited Vulnerabilities list — treat remediation as urgent. Federal remediation due by 3 May 2022.
Nagios XiApplication · Nagios

CVE-2019-15949

HIGH · 8.8 CVSS v3.1 Published 2019-09-05
Fix available
A fix is available. Upgrade to 5.6.6 or later.
See remediation →
100/100
Remediation priority · Urgent
In the wild High EPSS Public exploit Remotely reachable Zero-click

Official description Straight from the sourceThe vendor's or NVD's own wording, published unedited. Authoritative, but often terse — it says what broke, rarely what to do.

NVD · unedited
Nagios XI before 5.6.6 allows remote command execution as root. The exploit requires access to the server as the nagios user, or access as the admin user via the web interface. The getprofile.sh script, invoked by downloading a system profile (profile.php?cmd=download), is executed as root via a passwordless sudo entry; the script executes check_plugin, which is owned by the nagios user. A user logged into Nagios XI with permissions to modify plugins, or the nagios user on the server, can modify the check_plugin executable and insert malicious commands to execute as root.

Technical summary Written by usOur analysis, written from the advisory, the CVSS vector and the affected-version data. It adds context the advisory leaves out, and never invents facts that are not in the source.

dbcve analysis · high confidence

In Nagios XI before 5.6.6, the getprofile.sh script invoked via profile.php?cmd=download executes with root privileges through a passwordless sudo entry. Since getprofile.sh calls check_plugin (owned by the nagios user), an attacker with nagios system user access or admin web interface permissions can modify check_plugin to inject and execute arbitrary commands as root, achieving privilege escalation.

MitigationUpgrade to Nagios XI 5.6.6 or later to obtain the vendor patch; alternatively, remove or restrict the passwordless sudo entry for getprofile.sh and ensure plugin directories are not writable by untrusted users.

Verify against the referenced sources before acting — the references below are authoritative for this CVE, this summary is not.

Affected products & versions What the vendor confirmedThe version ranges the vendor confirmed as vulnerable. If your version sits inside a range here, treat yourself as exposed until you have upgraded.

NVD · CPE data
Nagios XiApplication
Affected:< 5.6.6

CVSS breakdown How the score is builtThe industry scoring standard. It rates how the flaw is reached, what it takes to exploit, and what an attacker gains — the score is derived from those, not the other way round.

From the vector
Attack vector
Network
Complexity
Low
Privileges
Low
User interaction
None
Scope
Unchanged
Confidentiality
High
Integrity
High
Availability
High

CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:L/PR:L/UI:N/S:U/C:H/I:H/A:H

Am I affected? How to checkSteps we derive from the advisory and the affected-version data, so you can decide whether this CVE reaches your setup. They are a guide, not a scan — your own configuration is the authority.

dbcve checks

Work through these to decide whether this CVE applies to you.

  1. Check Nagios XI version
    Run command: cat /usr/local/nagxi/etc/build or look at the web interface footer for version number
    Affected if Version is less than 5.6.6
  2. Identify passwordless sudo entry for getprofile.sh
    Run: sudo -l -U nagios 2>/dev/null | grep getprofile.sh or grep -r 'getprofile' /etc/sudoers /etc/sudoers.d/
    Affected if A passwordless sudo entry exists that allows nagios user to run getprofile.sh as root without password
  3. Verify getprofile.sh script exists
    Find the script location: find / -name 'getprofile.sh' 2>/dev/null
    Affected if The script exists in the Nagios XI web root or scripts directory
  4. Check write access to check_plugin binary
    Locate check_plugin: find / -name 'check_plugin' 2>/dev/null, then check ownership and permissions: ls -la <path_to_check_plugin>
    Affected if The nagios user or web admin users have write access to check_plugin or its parent directory
  5. Check web interface plugin upload access
    Log into Nagios XI as admin and navigate to Admin > System Config > File Manager or check if the nagios system user has shell access
    Affected if Users can modify plugin files in the Nagios XI directory structure

A user is affected if running Nagios XI version below 5.6.6 AND a passwordless sudo entry for getprofile.sh exists that permits the nagios user to execute it as root.

Generated from the published advisory. Verify against your own configuration.

Check your environment

Paste your version and any relevant configuration and it will be compared against the affected criteria above. Do not include secrets or credentials.

AI-assisted, checked against the advisory. Informational, not a guarantee.

Remediation Closing itWhat it takes to close this. Where a vendor fix exists we point at it; where none exists we say so plainly, and can build one. Effort estimates are scoped from the advisory, not from your codebase.

dbcve · scoped
Upgrade available Upgrade to 5.6.6 or later
Fixed in 5.6.6
Interim mitigation

Upgrade to Nagios XI 5.6.6 or later to obtain the vendor patch; alternatively, remove or restrict the passwordless sudo entry for getprofile.sh and ensure plugin directories are not writable by untrusted users.

Recommended fix High confidence

Nagios XI 5.6.6 or later

  1. 1. Backup the current Nagios XI installation and database before proceeding with any upgrade.
  2. 2. Download Nagios XI version 5.6.6 or later from the official Nagios website or vendor repository.
  3. 3. Run the Nagios XI upgrade wizard or use the standard upgrade procedure: ./upgrade xi 5.6.6
  4. 4. Verify the upgrade completed successfully by checking the Nagios XI version in the web interface (Admin > System Info).
  5. 5. Confirm the /usr/local/nagios/libexec/check_plugin file permissions have been properly set and are not writable by the nagios user.
  6. 6. Review sudoers configuration to ensure the passwordless sudo entry for getprofile.sh has been properly restricted or removed.
Caveat Review release notes for any breaking changes between current version and 5.6.6; test upgrades in staging environment first

Generated from the published advisory — verify against the referenced sources before acting.

Fix this in Nagios Xi Exploited in the wild — priority engagement
  • Consultation3.0 h
  • Implementation4.0 h
  • Testing3.0 h
  • Review / QA2.0 h
12.0 hours of engineering $2,130
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References Go to the primary sourcePrimary sources — vendor advisories, patches and trackers. Where our summary and a reference disagree, the reference wins.

Primary sources

Practitioner notes

Contributed

Peer-ranked notes from engineers who’ve handled CVE-2019-15949 in production — separate from our analysis above.

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What this is

A place for practitioners to share what actually worked: a mitigation you’ve tested, a configuration change, a version- or environment-specific caveat, or a link to a verified patch. The most useful notes rise to the top as peers upvote them, so the signal stays high.

What belongs here
  • Verified mitigations, workarounds, and config changes
  • Version or environment caveats, and links to real fixes
  • No weaponised exploit code, or anything meant to cause harm
  • No spam, self-promotion, credentials, or personal data