Security Resilience

CVE-2026-61400

RCE in Apache Cloudstack 4.20.0.0 – 4.20.3.1

Published
21 August 2026
Modified
16 October 2026
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 0.029 87th percentile
Risk Priority 69 floored blend · peak EPSS

CVSS and EPSS are reproduced from their sources (NVD, FIRST EPSS). Risk Priority is our own derived reading, not an NVD score.

Summary

CVE-2026-61400 is a high-severity Command Injection (CWE-77) vulnerability in Apache Cloudstack. Its CVSS base score is 8.8 (High).

Operationally, ranked in the top 13% of CVEs by exploit likelihood; it is not currently listed in the CISA KEV catalog.

The strongest mitigations our analysis identified map to SA-11 (Developer Testing and Evaluation) and SI-10 (Information Input Validation) — see the control section below for these in your framework.

OWASP Top 10 for Web (2025)

EU & UK References

Vulnerability Data

Improper Neutralization of Special Elements used in a Command ('Command Injection') vulnerability in Apache CloudStack's run and get diagnostics functionality for the system VMs and virtual routers. An authenticated user holding the permissions required to invoke either `getDiagnosticsData` or `runDiagnostics`…

more

can achieve arbitrary command execution on the system VM and/or Virtual Router instances, with commands running as root (or as the diagnostics-process user, at minimum). This represents a full compromise of the affected instance and, depending on network segmentation, may provide a foothold for lateral movement within the CloudStack-managed infrastructure, including access to guest network traffic handled by the compromised Virtual Router. The getDiagnosticsData and runDiagnostics APIs are restricted to only Admin role accounts by default. This issue affects Apache CloudStack: from 4.20.0.0 through 4.20.3.0 and from 4.21.0.0 through 4.22.1.0. Users are recommended to upgrade to version 4.20.3.1 or 4.22.1.1 or later, which fixes the issue.

CWE(s)

Related Threats

CVEs Like This One

CVE-2025-22828Same product: Apache Cloudstack
CVE-2024-45461Same product: Apache Cloudstack
CVE-2024-29008Same product: Apache Cloudstack
CVE-2024-38346Same product: Apache Cloudstack
CVE-2024-42062Same product: Apache Cloudstack
CVE-2026-25077Same product: Apache Cloudstack
CVE-2024-50386Same product: Apache Cloudstack
CVE-2025-47849Same product: Apache Cloudstack
CVE-2025-66467Same product: Apache Cloudstack
CVE-2025-26521Same product: Apache Cloudstack

Affected Assets

apache
cloudstack
4.20.0.0 — 4.20.3.1 · 4.21.0.0 — 4.22.1.1

Mitigating Controls

Mitigating Controls (NIST 800-53 r5) AI

Developer testing and evaluation can discover command-construction flaws before deployment.

Input validation directly stops construction of commands from untrusted data containing special elements.

Secure engineering principles include proper neutralization and safe command construction practices.

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.

blocks

A.8.25 mandates secure SDLC practices including secure coding guidelines, security requirements, checkpoints, testing (scans/penetration), and developer training that reduce command injection defects, but leaves a minority slice (e.g. incomplete implementation of those practices, outsourced development without full assurance, or post-SDLC changes) where the weakness can still arise and be exploitable.

blocks

Application security requirements explicitly call for controls against injection flaws including command injection.

blocks

A.8.27 mandates security-by-design principles (e.g. distrust external input, secure session control, data validation/sanitization, least privilege) and design reviews that can stop command injection from being introduced, but this is only a minority slice of CWE-77 because the weakness can still arise in code that bypasses those principles, in non-reviewed components, or in runtime injection vectors the architecture review does not reach.

prevents

Secure coding standards require proper escaping and parameterization of commands, directly eliminating CWE-77.

finds

Security testing in development catches command-injection vulnerabilities before release.

Hardening callouts derived

DISA STIG baselines are authored against specific weaknesses. Where this CVE cites a broad weakness class, the mapping is not asserted at that abstraction (owner ruling, 2026-09-25: grade only at Base and below), so no rule is shown here rather than a rule shown against the wrong grain.

  • No fine-grained STIG row for CWE-77, a class-level weakness, and none of its children carries one either.

References