CVE-2023-49084
Cacti 1.2.25
Raw vector
CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:H/PR:H/UI:N/S:C/C:H/I:H/A:HSummary
CVE-2023-49084 is a high-severity PHP Remote File Inclusion (CWE-98) vulnerability in Cacti Cacti. Its CVSS base score is 8.0 (High).
Operationally, exploitation aligns with the MITRE ATT&CK technique Exploit Public-Facing Application (T1190); 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.
Deeper analysis AI-assisted summary
Synthesised by an AI model from the NVD description and linked references — a reading aid, not an authoritative source.
Cacti, a performance and fault management framework that serves as a frontend to RRDTool, contains a vulnerability in the link.php component. The issue stems from a SQL injection flaw combined with insufficient validation of include file paths, which permits arbitrary code execution on the server under CWE-98. The vulnerability received a CVSS 3.1 score of 8.0 and was published in December 2023.
An authenticated user can exploit the flaw over the network to achieve remote code execution with high impact on confidentiality, integrity, and availability. The attack requires high attack complexity and administrative privileges but does not need user interaction, and the scope is changed.
Public advisories from the Cacti project, Debian, and Fedora document the issue and point to available patches and updated packages that address the SQL injection and path-handling weaknesses in link.php. Security practitioners should apply the fixes referenced in GHSA-pfh9-gwm6-86vp and the corresponding distribution announcements.
The EPSS score stands at 0.8834 with an identical recorded peak, indicating sustained exploitation interest since disclosure. Public exploit code has appeared on Packet Storm.
OWASP Top 10 for Web (2025)
EU & UK References
- 🇪🇺 ENISA EUVD: EUVD-2023-53099
Vulnerability Data
Cacti is a robust performance and fault management framework and a frontend to RRDTool - a Time Series Database (TSDB). While using the detected SQL Injection and insufficient processing of the include file path, it is possible to execute arbitrary…
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code on the server. Exploitation of the vulnerability is possible for an authorized user. The vulnerable component is the `link.php`. Impact of the vulnerability execution of arbitrary code on the server.
- CWE(s)
Related Threats
MITRE ATT&CK Enterprise Techniques
CVEs Like This One
Affected Assets
Mitigating Controls
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.
Secure SDLC practices such as input validation and allow-listing of include paths directly prevent the weakness.
Hardened runtime configuration (e.g., allow_url_include=off) directly blocks RFI even if code is flawed.
Execution restrictions can prevent the remote payload from running, while eliminating the weakness reduces the need for such controls.
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.
Security testing can detect RFI but does not prevent the weakness by itself.
Secure development lifecycle mandates input validation and safe include/require patterns that directly prevent remote file inclusion.
Application security requirements explicitly call for controls against injection and unsafe file operations.
Secure architecture principles reduce attack surface but do not specifically address dynamic file inclusion.
Secure coding standards directly require whitelisting and sanitization of filenames used in include/require statements.
Information access restriction limits what files can be read but does not address dynamic inclusion logic.