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Openwrt CVE-2026-30874

HIGH
Partial String Comparison (CWE-187)
2026-03-19 GitHub_M
7.8
CVSS 3.1 · GitHub Advisory
View

Attack ChainAIDerived

Hypothetical attack flow derived from CVE metadata – not a confirmed exploit chain

  1. Access
    Local authenticated user crafts malicious PATH variable
  2. Delivery
    Hotplug_call function fails to filter PATH due to strcmp bug
  3. Exploit
    Injected PATH bypasses security check
  4. Execution
    Hotplug script executes with attacker-controlled PATH
  5. Impact
    Arbitrary code execution with elevated privileges

Vulnerability Assessment

Weakness
CWE
OWASP Top 10:2025
A06:2021 - Vulnerable and Outdated Components
ASVS 5.0
V14 - Configuration Dependency management, component inventory
Exploitation Conditions

Requires local user access on OpenWrt versions prior to 24.10.6. Attacker must trigger hotplug event execution with custom PATH environment variable to exploit the environment variable filtering bypass in hotplug_call function. No victim interaction needed.

Impact

An attacker with limited access can gain administrative or root privileges, enabling full control over the affected system.

Exploit ScenarioDerived

A local attacker exploits a vulnerability in a privileged service or misconfigured permissions to escalate from a standard user to root/administrator.

This Week Schedule remediation this week. Why: HIGH severity (CVSS 7.0-8.9).
No patch listed yet 0.0% exploitation probability (EPSS)

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AnalysisAIv1 – Mar 19, 2026

OpenWrt versions prior to 24.10.6 allow local attackers with limited privileges to inject a malicious PATH environment variable into hotplug scripts due to improper filtering in the hotplug_call function, enabling execution of arbitrary binaries with elevated privileges. The vulnerability stems from a strcmp/strncmp logic error that fails to properly exclude the PATH variable when executing scripts in /etc/hotplug.d, resulting in local privilege escalation. No patch is currently available.

Earlier versions of this analysis (1)
v1 Mar 19, 2026 - 23:00 CVSS 7.8

RemediationAI

Apply the principle of least privilege. Keep systems patched. Monitor for suspicious privilege changes. Use mandatory access controls (SELinux, AppArmor).

Affects your stack

Find out whether the stacks and servers you run are on an affected version.

Checking this CVE against your own stacks and servers is part of the Basic plan and up.

Technical ContextAI · show details

Privilege escalation allows a low-privileged user or process to gain elevated permissions beyond what was originally authorized.

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  • Exploit and PoC references, threat intelligence from 22 sources

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Severity by source

GitHub Advisory PRIMARY 7.8 HIGH
AV:L/AC:L/PR:L/UI:N/S:U/C:H/I:H/A:H

Primary rating from GitHub Advisory · only source for this CVE.

CVSS VectorGitHub Advisory

Attack Vector
Local
Attack Complexity
Low
Privileges Required
Low
User Interaction
None
Scope
Unchanged
Confidentiality
High
Integrity
High
Availability
High

DescriptionGitHub Advisory

OpenWrt Project is a Linux operating system targeting embedded devices. In versions prior to 24.10.6, a vulnerability in the hotplug_call function allows an attacker to bypass environment variable filtering and inject an arbitrary PATH variable, potentially leading to privilege escalation. The function is intended to filter out sensitive environment variables like PATH when executing hotplug scripts in /etc/hotplug.d, but a bug using strcmp instead of strncmp causes the filter to compare the full environment string (e.g., PATH=/some/value) against the literal "PATH", so the match always fails. As a result, the PATH variable is never excluded, enabling an attacker to control which binaries are executed by procd-invoked scripts running with elevated privileges. This issue has been fixed in version 24.10.6.

Executive ViewAI

Why It Matters

Organizations using versions face notable risk from CVE-2026-30874 rated CVSS 7.8. Exploitation could compromise the security of affected deployments. Organizations should apply vendor updates when available and consider compensating controls in the interim.

Business Impact: High
Compensating Controls

Apply vendor patch. If immediate patching is not feasible: (1) Implement network-level access controls to limit exposure; (2) Enable enhanced monitoring and alerting; (3) Apply principle of least privilege.

Threat Intelligence Overview

EPSS Score
0.0%
Top 99% exploitable
Data Quality
5 sources
Confidence: Medium

How this decision was reached

The engine reads each signal below and applies a fixed list of rules from top to bottom. The first rule that matches sets the recommended action – like a statement, every line is shown.

SignalValue
Severity HIGH
CISA KEV No
Public POC No
EPSS 0.0%
Patch available No
Active threat No
Deciding rule
HIGH severity (CVSS 7.0-8.9)
What every action level means
Emergency Immediate action required. Criteria: CRITICAL + in CISA KEV (actively exploited) without patch, OR CRITICAL + EPSS > 30% without patch, OR CRITICAL + active threat signals without patch.
Act Now Prioritize within 24-48h. Criteria: in KEV with patch available, OR CRITICAL + public POC, OR HIGH + EPSS > 10%, OR CRITICAL + active threat, OR any CRITICAL severity.
This Week Schedule remediation this week. Criteria: HIGH severity (CVSS 7.0-8.9). Patch within normal change window.
This Month Plan within 30 days. Criteria: MEDIUM severity (CVSS 4.0-6.9), lower exploitation probability. Include in regular patch cycle.
Monitor Track and reassess. Criteria: LOW severity (CVSS 0.1-3.9), minimal exploitation risk. No immediate action needed.

SSVC AssessmentENISA

SSVC Decision· derived
Scheduled
Exploitation· derived
None
System Exposure· derived
Small
Automatable· derived
No
Human Impact
High

Priority Score

39
Low Medium High Critical
KEV: 0
EPSS: 0
CVSS: +39
PoC: 0
Weaponized: 0
Threat intel: 0
Gov advisory: 0

Attack Technique

Privilege escalation occurs when an attacker leverages flaws in access control mechanisms to gain permissions beyond what they were originally granted.

Affected Products (CPE)GitHub Advisory

cpe:2.3:a:openwrt:openwrt:*:*:*:*:*:*:*:*
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CVE-2020-7982 HIGH POC
8.1 Mar 16

An issue was discovered in OpenWrt 18.06.0 to 18.06.6 and 19.07.0, and LEDE 17.01.0 to 17.01.7. Rated high severity (CVS

CVE-2019-15513 HIGH POC
7.5 Aug 23

An issue was discovered in OpenWrt libuci (aka Library for the Unified Configuration Interface) before 15.05.1 as used o

CVE-2018-19630 MEDIUM POC
6.1 Nov 28

cgi_handle_request in uhttpd in OpenWrt through 18.06.1 and LEDE through 17.01 has unauthenticated reflected XSS via the

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9.8 Apr 07

In wlan service, there is a possible out of bounds write due to an incorrect bounds check. Rated critical severity (CVSS

CVE-2019-5102 MEDIUM POC
5.9 Nov 18

An exploitable information leak vulnerability exists in the ustream-ssl library of OpenWrt, versions 18.06.4 and 15.05.1

CVE-2019-5101 MEDIUM POC
5.9 Nov 18

An exploitable information leak vulnerability exists in the ustream-ssl library of OpenWrt, versions 18.06.4 and 15.05.1

CVE-2025-20674 CRITICAL
9.8 Jun 02

Remote privilege escalation in Android WLAN AP driver via packet injection.

CVE-2025-20683 CRITICAL
9.8 Jul 08

In wlan AP driver, there is a possible out of bounds write due to an incorrect bounds check. This could lead to local es

CVE-2025-20682 CRITICAL
9.8 Jul 08

In wlan AP driver, there is a possible out of bounds write due to an incorrect bounds check. This could lead to local es

CVE-2025-20681 CRITICAL
9.8 Jul 08

In wlan AP driver, there is a possible out of bounds write due to an incorrect bounds check. This could lead to local es

CVE-2026-30872 CRITICAL
9.8 Mar 19

Remote code execution in OpenWrt's mDNS daemon (versions before 24.10.6 and 25.12.1) allows unauthenticated attackers to

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