CVE intelligence and bounded remediation
CVE-2020-36868 — Nagios XI versions prior to 5.7.3 contain a privilege escalation vulnerability in the getprofile.sh helper script
Nagios XI versions prior to 5.7.3 contain a privilege escalation vulnerability in the getprofile.sh helper script. The script performed profile retrieval and initialization routines using insecure file/command handling and insufficient validation of attacker-controlled inputs, and in some deployments executed with elevated privileges. A local attacker with low-level access could exploit these weaknesses to cause the script to execute arbitrary commands or modify privileged files, resulting in privilege escalation.
- Severity
- High
- CVSS
- 8.5 (4.0)
- Published
- 2025-10-30
- CISA KEV
- Not currently listed
- Ecosystem
- software/application
- Weaknesses
- CWE-73, CWE-250
Affected products
- nagios / nagios_xi
Matched remediation archetype
Privilege escalation and unsafe privilege management
This catalog composition supplies bounded fallback guidance. Explicitly reviewed curated workflows load with the complete record below.
Check exposure
- Map service accounts, operating-system identities, roles, capabilities, impersonation, set-user transitions, and administrative helper paths.
- Determine whether untrusted users or lower-privilege processes can reach the affected transition or modify inputs it trusts.
- Review file, socket, registry, device, job, container, and cloud-role permissions used before and after privilege changes.
Remediate safely
- Apply the supported fix and redesign privileged operations as a minimal, authenticated, allowlisted interface.
- Drop privileges before processing untrusted input, verify the drop succeeds, and remove unnecessary roles, capabilities, and write permissions.
- Validate ownership and permissions at time of use and add explicit lower-to-higher privilege boundary tests.
Authoritative sources
Complete CVE record and remediation plan
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