CVE-2023-38349 in PNP4Nagios
Summary
by MITRE • 07/15/2023
PNP4Nagios through 81ebfc5 lacks CSRF protection in the AJAX controller. This affects 0.6.26.
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Analysis
by VulDB Data Team • 06/30/2026
The PNP4Nagios vulnerability represents a critical security flaw in the web-based monitoring and graphing solution that impacts version 0.6.26 and earlier releases up to commit 81ebfc5. This issue stems from the absence of Cross-Site Request Forgery protection mechanisms within the AJAX controller component, which serves as a crucial interface for dynamic web functionality. The vulnerability exposes the system to unauthorized operations that can be executed without user consent or knowledge, fundamentally compromising the integrity of the monitoring environment. The AJAX controller handles various administrative and operational functions through asynchronous requests, making it a prime target for malicious exploitation.
The technical flaw manifests when an attacker crafts malicious web pages or leverages existing user sessions to perform unauthorized actions against the vulnerable PNP4Nagios instance. Without proper CSRF tokens or validation mechanisms, legitimate administrative operations can be hijacked and executed by attackers who have gained access to the victim's browser session. This vulnerability specifically affects the AJAX controller which processes dynamic data requests and configuration changes, making it particularly dangerous as it could enable attackers to modify monitoring parameters, access sensitive data, or disrupt system operations. The lack of CSRF protection creates a pathway for attackers to manipulate the monitoring infrastructure through seemingly benign web interactions.
The operational impact of this vulnerability extends beyond simple data compromise, potentially allowing attackers to gain complete control over the monitoring environment and its associated systems. An attacker could leverage this weakness to modify alert configurations, disable monitoring functions, or even redirect monitoring data to malicious endpoints. The implications are particularly severe in enterprise environments where PNP4Nagios serves as a critical component for system health monitoring and incident response. Organizations relying on this tool for operational oversight face significant risk of undetected attacks that could go unnoticed for extended periods while the attacker maintains persistent access to modify or extract sensitive monitoring information.
Security professionals should immediately implement mitigations including the addition of proper CSRF token validation, session management enhancements, and input sanitization measures within the AJAX controller. Organizations must also consider implementing web application firewalls to detect and block suspicious AJAX requests, while ensuring that all user sessions are properly authenticated and validated before processing any administrative operations. The vulnerability aligns with CWE-352, which specifically addresses Cross-Site Request Forgery weaknesses in web applications. From an ATT&CK perspective, this vulnerability maps to techniques involving privilege escalation and persistence through web-based attacks, potentially enabling adversaries to maintain long-term access to monitoring infrastructure while remaining undetected within the network environment.