Cyber Resilience

CVE-2023-49085

SQLi in Cacti ≤ 1.2.25

Public PoCHigh EPSSSQLi
Published
22 December 2023
Modified
21 November 2024
Patch / advisory
CVSS Score v3.1 8.8
Click a component to see what it means
Raw vectorCVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:L/PR:L/UI:N/S:U/C:H/I:H/A:H
EPSS Score 0.85 99.7th percentile
Risk Priority 90 floored blend · peak EPSS

Summary

CVE-2023-49085 is a high-severity SQL Injection (CWE-89) vulnerability in Cacti Cacti. Its CVSS base score is 8.8 (High).

Operationally, exploitation aligns with the MITRE ATT&CK technique Exploit Public-Facing Application (T1190); ranked in the top 0.3% 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 is an operational monitoring and fault management framework that is affected by a SQL injection vulnerability in versions 1.2.25 and earlier. The flaw exists in the pollers.php script and stems from insufficient input sanitization, enabling an authenticated user to inject and execute arbitrary SQL statements, as classified under CWE-89. The issue carries a CVSS 3.1 score of 8.8.

An authorized user with access to the affected script can supply crafted input to pollers.php and achieve arbitrary SQL execution on the underlying database. Public references indicate this can be escalated to remote code execution in practice.

The GitHub security advisory GHSA-vr3c-38wh-g855 and subsequent distribution notices from Debian and Fedora reference the issue, though the original disclosure stated that no patch was available at the time of publication. A proof-of-concept exploit demonstrating remote code execution has been published on Packet Storm.

The associated EPSS score reached a peak of 0.9140 and remains at that level, indicating sustained exploitation interest following disclosure.

OWASP Top 10 for Web (2025)

EU & UK References

Vulnerability Data

Cacti provides an operational monitoring and fault management framework. In versions 1.2.25 and prior, it is possible to execute arbitrary SQL code through the `pollers.php` script. An authorized user may be able to execute arbitrary SQL code. The vulnerable component…

more

is the `pollers.php`. Impact of the vulnerability - arbitrary SQL code execution. As of time of publication, a patch does not appear to exist.

CWE(s)

Related Threats

MITRE ATT&CK Enterprise Techniques

T1190 Exploit Public-Facing Application Initial Access
Adversaries may attempt to exploit a weakness in an Internet-facing host or system to initially access a network.
Derived from this CVE’s CWE(s) via the direct CWE→ATT&CK cross-walk.

CVEs Like This One

CVE-2023-46490Same product: Cacti Cacti
CVE-2023-51448Same product: Cacti Cacti
CVE-2023-39365Same product: Cacti Cacti
CVE-2024-31445Same product: Cacti Cacti
CVE-2023-39361Same product: Cacti Cacti
CVE-2024-31460Same product: Cacti Cacti
CVE-2023-39358Same product: Cacti Cacti
CVE-2023-39359Same product: Cacti Cacti
CVE-2024-31458Same product: Cacti Cacti
CVE-2023-39357Same product: Cacti Cacti

Affected Assets

cacti
cacti
≤ 1.2.25

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)
  • V6.2.5

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.

addresses: CWE-89

Penetration testing uses SQL injection payloads against database interfaces, identifying and supporting fixes for SQL injection weaknesses.

addresses: CWE-89

Validates query inputs to prevent SQL syntax or command manipulation.

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

Secure SDLC practices directly target injection flaws during coding and review so largely prevent CWE-89 introduction, yet the single broad outcome leaves residual risk from incomplete neutralization techniques or missed edge cases.

PR.AT-02 partial match
prevents

Training raises developer awareness of SQLi risks and can reduce introduction likelihood (partial) but removes none of the actual coding flaw's risk by itself since technical neutralization is still required.

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.

finds

The same secure-coding and static-analysis activities surface missing neutralization of SQL metacharacters before the system is accepted.

prevents

Early warnings and shared best-practice information help organizations apply the latest remediation techniques against SQL-injection vulnerabilities.

prevents

Threat-intelligence feeds that surface new SQL-injection campaigns enable rapid updates to query-construction defenses and detection signatures before exploitation occurs.

prevents

Secure-coding rules and security testing phases mandate the use of parameterized queries or equivalent escaping, preventing the construction of dynamic SQL statements from untrusted input.

prevents

Language-specific secure coding rules, peer review and SAST together prevent the construction of SQL statements from untrusted data without proper parameterization or escaping.

References