Cyber Resilience

CVE-2018-8735

RCE in Nagios Xi 5.2.0 – 5.4.13

Public PoCHigh EPSSRCECommand Injection
Published
18 April 2018
Modified
21 November 2024
Patch / advisory
View advisory
CVSS Score v3 8.8
Click a component to see what it means
Raw vectorCVSS:3.0/AV:N/AC:L/PR:L/UI:N/S:U/C:H/I:H/A:H
EPSS Score 0.64 99.1th percentile
Risk Priority 87 floored blend · peak EPSS

Summary

CVE-2018-8735 is a high-severity OS Command Injection (CWE-78) vulnerability in Nagios Nagios Xi. Its CVSS base score is 8.8 (High).

Operationally, ranked in the top 0.9% of CVEs by exploit likelihood; it is not currently listed in the CISA KEV catalog; a public proof-of-concept is referenced.

OWASP Top 10 for Web (2025)

A05:2025 Injection

EU & UK References

Vulnerability Data

Remote command execution (RCE) vulnerability in Nagios XI 5.2.x through 5.4.x before 5.4.13 allows an attacker to execute arbitrary commands on the target system, aka OS command injection.

CWE(s)
CWE-78

Related Threats

Likely ATT&CK TechniquesAI

Techniques this vulnerability likely enables, inferred from its description, weakness type, and attributed-actor tradecraft. Confidence is per-technique.

T1190 Exploit Public-Facing Application Initial Accessconfidence: HIGH
The CVE is a remote command execution vulnerability in a public-facing Nagios XI application, directly enabling exploitation of a public-facing application for initial access.
attack.mitre.org →
T1059.004 Unix Shell Executionconfidence: HIGH
The vulnerability allows OS command injection, directly enabling execution of arbitrary commands via the Unix shell.
attack.mitre.org →
inferred from description + CWE · MITRE ATT&CK Enterprise v19.0

CVEs Like This One

CVE-2024-14003Same product: Nagios Nagios Xi
CVE-2025-34284Same product: Nagios Nagios Xi
CVE-2024-14005Same product: Nagios Nagios Xi
CVE-2026-2043Same product: Nagios Nagios Xi
CVE-2025-34227Same product: Nagios Nagios Xi
CVE-2024-14008Same product: Nagios Nagios Xi
CVE-2021-25298Same product: Nagios Nagios Xi
CVE-2026-2042Same product: Nagios Nagios Xi
CVE-2021-25297Same product: Nagios Nagios Xi
CVE-2025-34134Same product: Nagios Nagios Xi

Affected Assets

nagios
nagios xi
5.2.0 — 5.4.13

Mitigating Controls

Control response

Prevent
Stop it (NIST 800-53)

—

Detect
Catch it (NIST detect / respond)

—

Harden
Shrink the surface (DISA STIG)

—

Validate
Prove the fix (OWASP ASVS)
  • V1.2.5
  • V1.2.8
  • V15.2.5

Likely Mitigating Controls AI

Per-CVE control mapping for this CVE has not run yet; the list below is derived from the weakness types (CWEs) cited in the NVD entry.

SC-27 Platform-independent Applications
addresses: CWE-78

Platform-independent apps typically execute inside a managed runtime or sandbox that restricts direct OS command execution, reducing the ability to exploit OS command injection.

SI-10 Information Input Validation
addresses: CWE-78

Validates inputs to block special elements that would alter OS command execution.

Mitigating Controls (NIST CSF 2.0) AI

Derived directly from the weakness types (CWEs) cited in the NVD entry via our AI-authored CWE→CSF cross-walk (authority under review) — links open the control.

PR.PS-06 mostly match
prevents

PR.PS-06's SDLC practices directly require secure coding and input handling that blocks command-injection defects, yet the single broad outcome leaves many specific neutralization vectors and verification gaps unaddressed.

PR.PS-02 partial match
prevents

Routine patching/maintenance can remediate known command-injection CVEs in dependencies (partial forward) but does nothing to stop developers from introducing improper neutralization in custom code (none reverse).

Mitigating Controls (ISO/IEC 27001:2022 Annex A) AI

Derived directly from the weakness types (CWEs) cited in the NVD entry via our AI-authored CWE→ISO cross-walk (authority under review) — links open the control.

A.8.29 Security testing in development and acceptance mostly match
detects

Security testing and code review target insecure use of operating-system command interfaces, catching command-injection flaws introduced during development.

References