Wazuh has Privilege Escalation to Root via Cluster Protocol File Write

published 2026-03-17 7 mo ago modified 2026-06-17 4 mo ago also EUVD-2026-12597

cvss: 9.1; version 3.1, CNA
cisa kev: Not listed; not in CISA's catalog
epss: 1.0%; EPSS 1.0% chance of exploitation in 30 days, percentile 63%
public exploits: 0; none known

Wazuh is a free and open source platform used for threat prevention, detection, and response. Starting in version 3.9.0 and prior to version 4.14.3, a privilege escalation vulnerability exists in the Wazuh Manager's cluster synchronization protocol. The `wazuh-clusterd` service allows authenticated nodes to write arbitrary files to the manager’s file system with the permissions of the `wazuh` system user. Due to insecure default permissions, the `wazuh` user has write access to the manager's main configuration file (`/var/ossec/etc/ossec.conf`). By leveraging the cluster protocol to overwrite `ossec.conf`, an attacker can inject a malicious `<localfile>` command block. The `wazuh-logcollector` service, which runs as root, parses this configuration and executes the injected command. This chain allows an attacker with cluster credentials to gain full Root Remote Code Execution, violating the principle of least privilege and bypassing the intended security model. Version 4.14.3 fixes the issue.

Patch / fix

fixed in 1

wazuh wazuh 4.14.3

CISA SSVC

Exploitation: Proof of concept is public
Automatable: no
Technical impact: total
Assessed: 7 mo ago (2026-03-18)

Exploit prediction

1.03% chance of exploitation in the next 30 days, higher than 63% of all scored CVEs (FIRST EPSS, 2026-11-08).

Exploits and checks

github.com https://github.com/wazuh/wazuh/security/advisories/GHSA-r4f7-v3p6-79jm referenced PoC, tagged "exploit" by a source, unverified

CVSS scores

assigned by	version	score	vector
CNA	3.1	9.1	CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:L/PR:H/UI:N/S:C/C:H/I:H/A:H
NVD	3.1	7.2	CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:L/PR:H/UI:N/S:U/C:H/I:H/A:H

Affected products

wazuh wazuh

Classification

Weakness

CWE-22 Improper Limitation of a Pathname to a Restricted Directory
CWE-269 Improper Privilege Management
CWE-732 Incorrect Permission Assignment for Critical Resource

References

github.com /wazuh/wazuh/security/advisories/GHSA-r4f7-v3p6-79jm
exploit, mitigation, vendor-advisory

Sources

CVE List CVE-2026-25770
NVD CVE-2026-25770

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Summary