Attack ChainAIDerived
Hypothetical attack flow derived from CVE metadata – not a confirmed exploit chain
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AccessObtain low-privileged local shell
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ExploitWrite malicious library to Oracle client dir or edit oratab
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Executionmk-oracle plugin loads untrusted library as root
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ImpactExecute arbitrary code as root
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 | Exploitation requires ALL of: (1) local access to the monitored host as a low-privileged user; (2) a Checkmk agent with the 'mk-oracle' plugin explicitly enabled; and (3) attacker write permission to the Oracle client library directory of an Oracle home listed in the 'oratab' file, OR write permission to the 'oratab' file itself. Limiting factors: the plugin is not enabled by default in all deployments, the vulnerable path must be attacker-writable (a configuration/permission precondition reflected in CVSS AT:P and AC:H), and the attacker must already possess a local foothold (PR:L). These combined prerequisites make opportunistic or remote exploitation infeasible. |
| Impact | This is a genuine but constrained local privilege escalation, not a drop-everything priority. The CVSS 4.0 vector (AV:L/AC:H/AT:P/PR:L/UI:N) and the 5.2 Medium score are internally consistent with the description: exploitation is local, already requires low-privilege access, and carries both high attack complexity (AC:H) and a present attack requirement (AT:P) - namely that an agent has the 'mk-oracle' plugin enabled and that the attacker already holds write access to a privileged Oracle path. No EPSS score was provided, there is no CISA KEV listing, and no public POC is referenced, so all three exploitation-likelihood signals are either absent or negative; the only signal of active interest is that the vendor (Checkmk) self-reported it. The impact side is serious where applicable - code execution as root (reflected as SC:H/SI:H/SA:H, a scope/subsequent-system compromise) - but the chain of preconditions (local foothold + write access to the Oracle client library dir or oratab + plugin enabled) sharply limits real-world exploitability. Net: a legitimately dangerous outcome gated behind demanding prerequisites, best treated as a standard-priority patch rather than an emergency. |
| Exploit ScenarioDerived | On a Checkmk-monitored host running the 'mk-oracle' plugin as root, a low-privileged local user who can write to the Oracle client library directory (or to the oratab file that points to it) plants a malicious shared library or Oracle home entry. When the root-run plugin next executes and loads the attacker-controlled library via its untrusted search path, the attacker's code runs as root. No public exploit code is identified at time of analysis. |
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Alert meAnalysisAIv1 – Oct 21, 2026
Local privilege escalation in Checkmk 2.5.0p14 allows a low-privileged local user to execute code as root on monitored hosts where the Checkmk agent runs the 'mk-oracle' plugin, by writing a malicious library into an Oracle client library directory of an Oracle home listed in 'oratab', or by modifying 'oratab' itself. Exploitation requires three simultaneous preconditions - local access to the host, the non-default mk-oracle plugin explicitly enabled, and write permission to those Oracle paths - so opportunistic or remote exploitation is infeasible, and no public exploit code was identified at time of analysis (not listed in CISA KEV). Impact is rated on a scope-changed model because the root-run agent process can affect components beyond the plugin itself.
RemediationAI
No vendor-released patch version is confirmed in the supplied data; consult the Checkmk werk advisory at https://checkmk.com/werk/22621 for the fixed release and upgrade the agent and site accordingly, then redeploy agents to monitored hosts. Where upgrading is not immediately possible, the highest-value compensating control is to stop running the vulnerable code path: disable the 'mk-oracle' plugin in the agent configuration (e.g. remove it from the agent plugin set or the bakery rule) - the trade-off is loss of Oracle database monitoring on those hosts. Second, harden the filesystem preconditions that make the flaw exploitable: make 'oratab' (typically /etc/oratab or $ORACLE_HOME/install/oratab) and the Oracle client library directories owned by root or the oracle account and not group- or world-writable, removing write access for ordinary local users - the trade-off is that DBAs who previously edited these paths as non-root must use sudo, and this must be re-checked after Oracle client installs or patching since installers may reset permissions. Third, where operationally feasible, run the Checkmk agent and its plugins under an unprivileged service account instead of root so that a planted library cannot execute with root privileges - the trade-off is reduced visibility into root-owned resources and required rework of existing plugin permissions. Finally, audit monitored hosts for writable Oracle paths and unexpected library files as a detection measure while remediation is pending.
Affected VersionsENISA
Affected Packages
Source: OSV (Open Source Vulnerabilities)
Affects your stack
Affects 1 package in euvd
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Technical ContextAI · show details
The root cause is CWE-426 (Untrusted Search Path): the Checkmk agent's 'mk-oracle' plugin discovers Oracle homes by parsing the 'oratab' file and then loads client libraries from paths taken from that configuration without sufficiently validating their provenance or ownership. Because the agent executes plugin code with root privileges, any library or executable the plugin resolves from an attacker-writable location is loaded in a root context, yielding privilege escalation. The agent-generated CVSS 4.0 vector (AV:L/AC:H/AT:P/PR:L/UI:N/VC:N/VI:N/VA:N/SC:H/SI:H/SA:H) reflects a local attack requiring a pre-existing foothold and a permission/configuration precondition, with no direct confidentiality, integrity or availability loss to the vulnerable component itself but high impact on subsequent (scope-changed) systems. This is consistent with the independent assessment (CVSS 3.1 AV:L/AC:H/PR:L/UI:N/S:C/C:H/I:H/A:H), which treats the escalated root context as the primary impact. The CPE string cpe:2.3:a:checkmk_gmbh:checkmk:*:*:*:*:*:*:*:* indicates the affected code is in the core Checkmk product line rather than a standalone agent package.
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Severity by source
CVSS:4.0/AV:L/AC:H/AT:P/PR:L/UI:N/VC:N/VI:N/VA:N/SC:H/SI:H/SA:H
Local-only (AV:L) with attacker-writable Oracle path and plugin-enabled prerequisites (AC:H), requires an existing low-priv account (PR:L); root code execution crosses a privilege boundary (S:C) yielding full C/I/A impact.
Primary rating from Vendor (Checkmk).
CVSS VectorVendor: Checkmk
DescriptionCVE.org
Local privilege escalation in Checkmk 2.5.0p14 allows a local user with write access to the Oracle client library directory of an Oracle home listed in the 'oratab' file or to the 'oratab' file itself to execute code as root if an agent has the 'mk-oracle' plugin enabled.
Threat Intelligence Overview
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.
What every action level means
SSVC AssessmentENISA
Priority Score
Attack Technique
Privilege escalation occurs when an attacker leverages flaws in access control mechanisms to gain permissions beyond what they were originally granted.
Check_MK before 1.2.8p26 mishandles certain errors within the failed-login save feature because of a race condition, whi
The web management console of CheckMK Raw Edition (versions 1.5.0 to 1.6.0) allows a misconfiguration of the web-app Dok
The web management console of CheckMK Enterprise Edition (versions 1.5.0 to 2.0.0p9) does not properly sanitise the uplo
Local privilege escalation in the Checkmk Windows Agent's Windows License plugin allows an authenticated low-privileged
Stored/transmitted cross-site scripting in Checkmk's distributed monitoring lets an attacker who already controls a remo
Authenticated path traversal in Checkmk's report scheduler lets a user with valid application credentials write report f
Improper restriction of excessive authentication attempts on some authentication methods in Checkmk before 2.3.0b5 (beta
The CheckMK management web console (versions 1.5.0 to 2.0.0) does not sanitise user input in various parameters of the W
Local privilege escalation in Checkmk allows site users with high privileges to escalate to root by manipulating site co
Bypass of two factor authentication in RestAPI in Checkmk < 2.3.0p16 and < 2.2.0p34 allows authenticated users to bypass
Improper neutralization of active check command arguments in Checkmk < 2.1.0p32, < 2.0.0p38, < 2.2.0p4 leads to arbitrar
Improper neutralization of livestatus command delimiters in the RestAPI in Checkmk < 2.0.0p36, < 2.1.0p28, and < 2.2.0b8
EUVD-2026-107474
GHSA-2pwc-pprg-4jmv
NVD
CVE.org
EPSS
Vulnrichment
VulDB
Exploit-DB