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Nagios XiApplication · Nagios

CVE-2020-36867

HIGH · 8.8 CVSS v3.1 Published 2025-10-30
Fix available
A fix is available. Upgrade to 5.7.3 or later.
See remediation →
94/100
Remediation priority · Urgent
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 versions prior to 5.7.3 contain a command injection vulnerability in the report PDF download/export functionality. User-supplied values used in the PDF generation pipeline or the wrapper that invokes offline/pdf helper utilities were insufficiently validated or improperly escaped, allowing an authenticated attacker who can trigger PDF exports to inject shell metacharacters or arguments.

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

Nagios XI versions prior to 5.7.3 contain a command injection vulnerability in the report PDF download/export functionality. User-supplied values passed to the PDF generation pipeline or wrapper invoking offline/pdf helper utilities are insufficiently validated or improperly escaped, allowing an authenticated attacker who can trigger PDF exports to inject shell metacharacters or arguments.

MitigationUpgrade to Nagios XI version 5.7.3 or later which contains the fix for this vulnerability. As an interim measure, restrict access to PDF export functionality to only trusted authenticated users and monitor for suspicious command patterns.

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:< 5.7.3

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. Identify Nagios XI installation
    Locate the Nagios XI installation and determine the installed version. Common locations include /usr/local/nagiosxi/ or check the Nagios XI web interface footer for version information. Use the command: cat /usr/local/nagiosxi/var/version.ini or check the web interface.
    Affected if The installed version is earlier than 5.7.3 (e.g., 5.7.0, 5.6.0, 5.5.0, etc.)
  2. Confirm PDF export functionality exists
    Verify that the report PDF export/download feature is present in the Nagios XI web interface. Log in as an authenticated user and navigate to the reporting section to confirm PDF export options are available.
    Affected if The PDF export feature is present and accessible to authenticated users in the environment
  3. Review access controls on PDF export
    Examine user permissions and roles within Nagios XI to determine which authenticated users have access to the PDF export functionality. Check the admin panel for user/role configuration.
    Affected if Low-privilege or untrusted authenticated users have access to PDF export capabilities
  4. Check for exploitation indicators in logs
    Search Nagios XI logs for suspicious PDF export requests containing shell metacharacters. Review logs in /usr/local/nagiosxi/var/logs/ for patterns like '$(', '`', ';', '|', '&&', or unexpected argument strings in PDF-related operations.
    Affected if Logs contain PDF export requests with shell metacharacters or unexpected command arguments that were not generated by the application

The environment is affected if Nagios XI version is earlier than 5.7.3 AND the PDF export feature is accessible to authenticated users in your environment.

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 5.7.3 or later
Fixed in 5.7.3
Interim mitigation

Upgrade to Nagios XI version 5.7.3 or later which contains the fix for this vulnerability. As an interim measure, restrict access to PDF export functionality to only trusted authenticated users and monitor for suspicious command patterns.

Recommended fix High confidence

5.7.3

  1. 1. Back up the current Nagios Xi installation including the database and configuration files
  2. 2. Download Nagios Xi version 5.7.3 or later from the official Nagios website (www.nagios.com)
  3. 3. Run the Nagios Xi update script or use the web-based upgrade interface to apply the new version
  4. 4. After upgrade, verify the PDF export functionality works correctly and no errors appear in the logs
  5. 5. Confirm the version number has been updated to 5.7.3 or later using the Nagios Xi administrative interface
Caveat Standard minor version upgrades typically preserve configuration; however, always review release notes for any deprecated features or migration requirements

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

Fix this in Nagios Xi Scoped from the published advisory
  • Consultation3.0 h
  • Implementation6.0 h
  • Testing4.0 h
  • Review / QA2.0 h
15.0 hours of engineering $2,640
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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-2020-36867 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