CVE-2021-36366

Local root escalation via service wildcards

Published Sep 28, 2021 · Updated Aug 4, 2024

Local privilege escalation in Nagios XI before 5.8.5 allows local users to gain root privileges through manage_services.sh wildcards. The sudo-authorized service script accepts wildcard arguments, causing privileged service operations to act on attacker-controlled matches. A local account permitted to invoke the script through sudo is required, and successful exploitation grants root-level control.

CVSS severity9.8
Critical
EPSS probability4.00%
Next 30 days · Sep 16, 2026
Known exploitationUnconfirmed
Based on sourced intelligence
Hinoki checkNot available
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Summary

What happened

Local privilege escalation in Nagios XI before 5.8.5 allows local users to gain root privileges through manage_services.sh wildcards. The sudo-authorized service script accepts wildcard arguments, causing privileged service operations to act on attacker-controlled matches. A local account permitted to invoke the script through sudo is required, and successful exploitation grants root-level control.

The record

CVE
CVE-2021-36366
Published
Sep 28, 2021
Updated
Aug 4, 2024
Vendor
Unknown vendor
Product
Unknown product
Classifications
T1548.003
Attack vector
local
Privileges
authenticated

Timeline

How it unfolded

  1. Sep 28, 2021CVE publishedPublication date reported by the CVE source.
  2. Aug 4, 2024Record updatedLatest update available in the CVE record.

Exploitability

Present is not the same as exploitable

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Is a vulnerable build present?

Affected buildAffected product and version details are unavailable.

What conditions does exploitation require?

Attack vectorlocal
Required privilegesauthenticated

What is affected?

Affected products and versions are unavailable in this record.

Published CVSS scores

7.5NIST NVDAV:N/AC:L/Au:N/C:P/I:P/A:P
9.8NIST NVDCVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:L/PR:N/UI:N/S:U/C:H/I:H/A:H

CVSS describes severity. EPSS estimates exploitation probability.

Attacks

What attackers are doing with it

Daily unique IPs observed by Shadowserver honeypots for known exploited vulnerabilities (KEVs). Missing observations do not establish an absence of attacks.

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No observations available

Sep 10, 2026Sep 16, 2026
Latest reporting daySep 16, 2026
Latest daily unique IPsUnavailable
Prior 30-day averageUnavailable
SourceShadowserver honeypots (KEV)
Vectorlocal
Privilegesauthenticated
Known exploitationUnconfirmed
Public exploitUnconfirmed

Weakness, pattern, technique

T1548.003Abuse Elevation Control Mechanism: Sudo and Sudo Caching

Public exploit references

No public exploit references are available in this record.

Labels summarize the accepted research assessment. They do not indicate a test against your environment.

Technologies

Your stack

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Your stack

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