CVE intelligence and bounded remediation

CVE-2026-40079 — Cacti is an open source performance and fault management framework

Critical CVSS 9.8

Cacti is an open source performance and fault management framework. Versions 1.2.30 and prior are vulnerable to Command Injection due to lack of sanitization in the escape_command() function. The escape_command() function at lib/rrd.php is a no-op: it returns $command unchanged. The command line built by rrdtool_function_graph() is passed through this function and then to shell_exec($full_commandline). The risk is in __rrd_execute() where text_format values from graph templates (which may contain host variable substitutions) reach shell_exec without adequate escaping. This issue has been addressed in version 1.2.31.

Severity
Critical
CVSS
9.8 (3.1)
Published
2026-06-25
CISA KEV
Not currently listed
Ecosystem
software/application
Weaknesses
CWE-78, CWE-88

Affected products

  • cacti / cacti

Matched remediation archetype

Command, code, expression, and template injection

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Check exposure

  • Trace untrusted values to process execution, interpreters, evaluators, template engines, dynamic imports, and administrative scripting features.
  • Determine whether the affected path is reachable across each trust boundary and which service account or host privilege it inherits.
  • Review configuration for optional execution features, unsafe compatibility modes, and shell invocation.

Remediate safely

  • Replace string-built commands or evaluated code with fixed operations and structured argument APIs that do not invoke a shell.
  • Use strict allowlists for operation identifiers and reject unexpected input before it reaches any interpreter.
  • Update the affected component and add inert regression tests covering metacharacters, encoding variants, and alternate request paths.

Authoritative sources

Complete CVE record and remediation plan

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