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Asterisk CVE-2026-57203

| EUVDEUVD-2026-111402 MEDIUM
Untrusted Search Path (CWE-426)
2026-10-27 GitHub_M
6.9
CVSS 4.0 · Vendor: GitHub_M
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Attack ChainAIDerived

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

  1. Access
    Obtain authorized shell on Asterisk server
  2. Delivery
    Plant malicious .ast_tsconvert.py in /tmp
  3. Exploit
    Administrator runs ast_loggrabber as privileged user
  4. Execution
    Planted Python executes with elevated privileges
  5. Impact
    Attacker gains elevated code execution

Vulnerability Assessment

Weakness
CWE
OWASP Top 10:2025
A08:2025 - Software or Data Integrity Failures
ASVS 5.0
V13 - Configuration Search path verification
Exploitation Conditions

Two concrete preconditions must both hold: (1) the attacker must already have an authorized interactive shell account on the Asterisk server to write to the world-writable /tmp directory, and (2) an administrator must subsequently run the contrib/scripts/ast_loggrabber diagnostic script as a user with elevated privileges - the vulnerable version executes a Python helper from the fixed path /tmp/.ast_tsconvert.py, which the attacker can control. Limiting factors that reduce real-world risk: exploitation is local only (no remote/network vector), the attacker needs existing authenticated shell access, and it depends on a privileged user actually invoking ast_loggrabber (a manual log-collection action, not a routine service), so it affects only deployments where untrusted users have shell access and the diagnostic tool is run with elevated privileges.

Impact

This is a genuine but constrained local privilege-escalation / code-execution issue (CWE-426, untrusted search path), not a widespread remote threat. The CVSS 4.0 vector (AV:L/AC:L/AT:P/PR:L/UI:P, score 6.9 Medium) tells the story: exploitation is local only, requires the attacker to already hold an authorized shell account (PR:L), depends on an attack requirement being met (AT:P - an administrator must actually run ast_loggrabber), and needs that privileged user's passive interaction (UI:P). Impact is high on both confidentiality and integrity, including a cross-privilege effect (VC:H/VI:H, SC:H/SI:H), but no availability impact (VA:N/SA:N). No EPSS score was provided in the input, so exploitation probability cannot be quantified here. The vulnerability is NOT in CISA KEV and there is no public exploit identified at time of analysis - the only exploitation-relevant artifacts are vendor patch commits, which are fixes, not PoC exploit code. The vuln.today decision label is 'this_month', consistent with a real-but-not-emergency priority: the combination of required prior shell access and a privileged admin running a diagnostic tool makes this an insider/post-compromise escalation path rather than a mass-exploitable flaw. Patch promptly within normal maintenance windows, prioritizing servers where untrusted users hold shell accounts.

Exploit ScenarioDerived

An attacker who already has a low-privileged but authorized shell account on the Asterisk server writes a malicious Python file to the fixed world-writable path (/tmp/.ast_tsconvert.py). When an administrator later runs the ast_loggrabber diagnostic script as a privileged user, the planted script is executed with those elevated privileges, giving the attacker code execution and escalation. No public exploit identified at time of analysis; exploitation requires the attacker to anticipate or induce the admin's use of the tool.

This Month Plan within 30 days. Why: MEDIUM severity (CVSS 4.0-6.9).
Patch available 0.1% exploitation probability (EPSS)

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AnalysisAIv1 – Oct 28, 2026

Local privilege escalation in the Asterisk PBX ast_loggrabber diagnostic script lets an attacker who already holds an interactive shell account on the Asterisk server plant a malicious Python helper in the world-writable /tmp directory, which is then executed if an administrator later runs ast_loggrabber as a user with elevated privileges. Affected builds are Asterisk up to and including 20.20.0, 21.12.2, 22.10.0 and 23.4.0, plus Certified Asterisk up to 20.7-cert10 and 22.8-cert2; fixes are published in 20.20.1, 21.12.3, 22.10.1, 23.4.1, 20.7-cert11 and 22.8-cert3. Exploitation is constrained by two preconditions that must both hold - existing authenticated shell access and a privileged manual invocation of the diagnostic script - and there is no public exploit identified at time of analysis, no confirmed active exploitation (CISA KEV) and no EPSS signal supplied in the available data.

RemediationAI

Vendor-released patches are available: upgrade to Asterisk 20.20.1, 21.12.3, 22.10.1 or 23.4.1, or to Certified Asterisk 20.7-cert11 or 22.8-cert3, as documented in the GitHub security advisory https://github.com/asterisk/asterisk/security/advisories/GHSA-xgj6-2gc5-5x9c and the corresponding release tags; the fix commits (for example https://github.com/asterisk/asterisk/commit/022407ec47adebe27b7ec8bcf5626e5a02fe1551) move the extracted Python helper out of /tmp and into the script's private temporary directory. Because exploitation requires both an existing interactive shell on the Asterisk server and a privileged manual run of ast_loggrabber, interim risk reduction consists of restricting shell access on Asterisk hosts to fully trusted operators (removing shared or multi-tenant login accounts), never invoking ast_loggrabber as root or as any user holding more privilege than required to read the logs, and clearing any existing /tmp/.ast_tsconvert.py before running the diagnostic - noting that these are compensating measures only and the upstream code change is the complete fix. Patching is not urgent on an emergency timeline (decision label: this_month) but should be scheduled, particularly on deployments where untrusted users can log in to the PBX host.

Affected VersionsENISA

asterisk 22.0.0-pre1, < 22.10.1
asterisk < 20.20.1
certified-asterisk < 20.7-cert11
certified-asterisk 22.8-cert1-pre1, < 22.8-cert3
asterisk 21.0.0-pre1, < 21.12.3
asterisk 23.0.0-pre1, < 23.4.1

Affected Packages

euvd asterisk fix: 20.20.1, 21.12.3, 22.10.1, 23.4.1
euvd certified_asterisk fix: 20.7-cert11, 22.8-cert3

Source: OSV (Open Source Vulnerabilities)

Affects your stack

Affects 2 packages in euvd

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

Technical ContextAI · show details

The root cause class is CWE-426, Untrusted Search Path: contrib/scripts/ast_loggrabber embeds a Python timestamp-conversion helper at the end of its own body and extracts it at runtime with install -m 0600 /dev/stdin /tmp/.ast_tsconvert.py, then pipes Asterisk log files through python /tmp/.ast_tsconvert.py. Because the helper is loaded from a fixed, predictable filename inside the world-writable /tmp directory instead of a directory the invoking user controls exclusively, an attacker with an existing shell session on the host can influence the code that runs in the administrator's elevated context. The upstream fix, visible in the referenced commits, relocates the helper to the script's own private $tmpdir (install -m 0600 /dev/stdin "$tmpdir/.ast_tsconvert.py") and narrows the EXIT trap to rm -rf $tmpdir, removing the shared /tmp path from the execution chain. The available sources do not describe the precise mechanism by which an attacker-controlled file survives or subverts the extraction step, nor any race or timing requirement; the vulnerable pattern documented is simply that the script is executed from a world-writable location. Scoring differs between schemes: CVSS 4.0 gives 6.9 (AV:L/AC:L/AT:P/PR:L/UI:P) while the independent assessment applies CVSS 3.1 AV:L/AC:H/PR:L/UI:R/S:C/C:H/I:H/A:N, both agreeing the vector is local, requires low/authenticated privileges, and has a user-interaction component tied to the administrator running the tool. Impact is scoped as changed (S:C) in the 3.1 assessment, i.e. code runs outside the attacker's original privilege context, with high confidentiality and integrity impact but no availability impact.

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  • Exploit and PoC references, threat intelligence from 22 sources

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Severity by source

Vendor (GitHub_M) PRIMARY 6.9 MEDIUM
CVSS:4.0/AV:L/AC:L/AT:P/PR:L/UI:P/VC:H/VI:H/VA:N/SC:H/SI:H/SA:N
vuln.today AI 7.2 HIGH

Local authorized user (AV:L/PR:L) depending on a privileged admin running the tool (UI:R, AC:H), crossing a privilege boundary (S:C) for code execution (C:H/I:H) with no availability impact.

3.1 AV:L/AC:H/PR:L/UI:R/S:C/C:H/I:H/A:N
4.0 AV:L/AC:L/AT:P/PR:L/UI:P/VC:H/VI:H/VA:N/SC:H/SI:H/SA:N

Primary rating from Vendor (GitHub_M).

CVSS VectorVendor: GitHub_M

Attack Vector
Local
Attack Complexity
Low
Attack Requirements
Present
Privileges Required
Low
User Interaction
Passive
Vulnerable system: Confidentiality
High
Vulnerable system: Integrity
High
Vulnerable system: Availability
None
Subsequent system: Confidentiality
High
Subsequent system: Integrity
High
Subsequent system: Availability
None

Lifecycle Timeline

2
Patch available
Oct 27, 2026 - 22:03 EUVD
CVE Published
Oct 27, 2026 - 21:48 cve.org
MEDIUM 6.9

DescriptionCVE.org

Asterisk is an open source private branch exchange and telephony toolkit. Prior to Asterisk 20.20.1, 21.12.3, 22.10.1, 23.4.1 and Certified Asterisk 20.7-cert11, 22.8-cert3, ast_loggrabber executes a Python script from the world-writable /tmp directory. An attacker already authorized to open a shell session on the Asterisk server may place a malicious script there and gain elevated privileges or execute code when an administrator runs ast_loggrabber as a user with elevated privileges. This issue is fixed in Asterisk 20.20.1, 21.12.3, 22.10.1, 23.4.1 and Certified Asterisk 20.7-cert11, 22.8-cert3.

Threat Intelligence Overview

EPSS Score
0.1%
Top 96% exploitable
Prevalence
High
most widely deployed open-source PBX/VoIP telephony platform
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 MEDIUM
CISA KEV No
Public POC No
EPSS 0.1%
Patch available Yes
Active threat No
Deciding rule
MEDIUM severity (CVSS 4.0-6.9)
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
Defer
Exploitation· derived
None
System Exposure· derived
Small
Automatable· derived
No
Human Impact· derived
Medium

Priority Score

34
Low Medium High Critical
KEV: 0
EPSS: 0
CVSS: +34
PoC: 0
Weaponized: 0
Threat intel: 0
Gov advisory: 0

Attack Technique

Information disclosure occurs when an application unintentionally exposes sensitive data that aids attackers in reconnaissance or directly compromises security.

CVE-2017-17090 HIGH POC
7.5 Dec 02

An issue was discovered in chan_skinny.c in Asterisk Open Source 13.18.2 and older, 14.7.2 and older, and 15.1.2 and old

CVE-2012-1184 HIGH POC
7.5 Sep 18

Stack-based buffer overflow in the ast_parse_digest function in main/utils.c in Asterisk 1.8.x before 1.8.10.1 and 10.x

CVE-2017-14100 CRITICAL
9.8 Sep 02

In Asterisk 11.x before 11.25.2, 13.x before 13.17.1, and 14.x before 14.6.1 and Certified Asterisk 11.x before 11.6-cer

CVE-2017-14098 HIGH
7.5 Sep 02

In the pjsip channel driver (res_pjsip) in Asterisk 13.x before 13.17.1 and 14.x before 14.6.1, a carefully crafted tel

CVE-2014-9374 MEDIUM
5.0 Dec 12

Double free vulnerability in the WebSocket Server (res_http_websocket module) in Asterisk Open Source 11.x before 11.14.

CVE-2017-17850 HIGH
7.5 Dec 27

An issue was discovered in Asterisk 13.18.4 and older, 14.7.4 and older, 15.1.4 and older, and 13.18-cert1 and older. Ra

CVE-2017-7617 HIGH
8.8 Apr 10

Remote code execution can occur in Asterisk Open Source 13.x before 13.14.1 and 14.x before 14.3.1 and Certified Asteris

CVE-2015-3008 MEDIUM
4.3 Apr 10

Asterisk Open Source 1.8 before 1.8.32.3, 11.x before 11.17.1, 12.x before 12.8.2, and 13.x before 13.3.2 and Certified

CVE-2021-32558 HIGH POC
7.5 Jul 30

An issue was discovered in Sangoma Asterisk 13.x before 13.38.3, 16.x before 16.19.1, 17.x before 17.9.4, and 18.x befor

CVE-2018-19278 HIGH POC
7.5 Nov 14

Buffer overflow in DNS SRV and NAPTR lookups in Digium Asterisk 15.x before 15.6.2 and 16.x before 16.0.1 allows remote

CVE-2018-7284 HIGH POC
7.5 Feb 22

A Buffer Overflow issue was discovered in Asterisk through 13.19.1, 14.x through 14.7.5, and 15.x through 15.2.1, and Ce

CVE-2025-1131 HIGH POC
7.0 Sep 23

A local privilege escalation vulnerability exists in the safe_asterisk script included with the Asterisk toolkit package

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