CVE-2013-10073 in Nagios
Summary
by MITRE • 10/31/2025
Nagios XI versions prior to 2012R1.6 contain a shell command injection vulnerability in the Auto-Discovery tool. User-controlled input is passed to a shell without adequate sanitation or argument quoting, allowing an authenticated user with access to discovery functionality to execute arbitrary commands with the privileges of the application service.
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Analysis
by VulDB Data Team • 11/17/2025
The vulnerability identified as CVE-2013-10073 affects Nagios XI versions prior to 2012R1.6 and represents a critical shell command injection flaw within the Auto-Discovery tool component. This vulnerability stems from inadequate input validation and sanitization mechanisms that fail to properly escape or quote user-supplied data before executing shell commands. The flaw exists in the discovery functionality where user-controlled parameters are directly incorporated into shell execution contexts without proper security controls, creating an avenue for malicious command execution.
The technical implementation of this vulnerability allows an authenticated user who possesses access rights to the discovery tool functionality to inject arbitrary shell commands that will execute with the privileges of the application service account. This privilege escalation occurs because the application does not employ proper input sanitization techniques such as shell argument escaping, command whitelisting, or secure parameter handling mechanisms. The vulnerability specifically targets the Auto-Discovery tool's processing of user inputs, where unfiltered data flows directly into system command execution contexts, creating a direct path for command injection attacks.
From an operational perspective, this vulnerability presents a significant risk to system security and integrity. An attacker with valid credentials and access to the discovery functionality can leverage this flaw to execute arbitrary commands on the affected system, potentially gaining unauthorized access to sensitive data, modifying system configurations, or establishing persistent access through backdoor creation. The impact extends beyond immediate command execution as it could enable further lateral movement within the network, privilege escalation to administrative accounts, or data exfiltration from the monitoring infrastructure. The authenticated nature of the attack vector means that insider threats or compromised legitimate user accounts pose a particular concern.
Organizations should implement immediate mitigations including updating to Nagios XI 2012R1.6 or later versions where this vulnerability has been addressed through proper input sanitization and command execution controls. Network segmentation and access control measures should be enforced to limit user access to discovery functionality to only authorized personnel with legitimate business requirements. Additionally, monitoring should be implemented to detect suspicious command execution patterns and anomalous behavior in the discovery tool. The vulnerability aligns with CWE-77 and CWE-78 categories under the Common Weakness Enumeration, specifically addressing improper neutralization of special elements used in OS commands and improper neutralization of special elements used in a shell command. This vulnerability also maps to ATT&CK technique T1059.001 for command and scripting interpreter, highlighting the exploitation pathway through shell command injection and execution.