cacti — security advisory
Cacti is an open source platform which provides a robust and extensible operational monitoring and fault management framework for users. In affected versions a command injection vulnerability allows an unauthenticated user to execute arbitrary code on a server running Cacti, if a specific data source was selected for any monitored device. The vulnerability resides in the `remote_agent.php` file. This file can be accessed without authentication. This function retrieves the IP address of the client via `get_client_addr` and resolves this IP address to the corresponding hostname via `gethostbyaddr`. After this, it is verified that an entry within the `poller` table exists, where the hostname corresponds to the resolved hostname. If such an entry was found, the function returns `true` and the client is authorized. This authorization can be bypassed due to the implementation of the `get_client_addr` function. The function is defined in the file `lib/functions.php` and checks serval `$_SERVER` variables to determine the IP address of the client. The variables beginning with `HTTP_` can be arbitrarily set by an attacker. Since there is a default entry in the `poller` table with the hostname of the server running Cacti, an attacker can bypass the authentication e.g. by providing the header `Forwarded-For: `. This way the function `get_client_addr` returns the IP address of the server running Cacti. The following call to `gethostbyaddr` will resolve this IP address to the hostname of
- Products
- cacti
- Affected versions
- Not specified
- Fixed versions
- 1.2.22+ds1-3
- CVEs
- CVE-2022-46169
- Confirmed fixed CVEs
- Not specified
- Updated in this feed
- 30 Oct 2026, 14:52 UTC · Revision 1
Source evidence
Cacti is an open source platform which provides a robust and extensible operational monitoring and fault management framework for users. In affected versions a command injection vulnerability allows an unauthenticated user to execute arbitrary code on a server running Cacti, if a specific data source was selected for any monitored device. The vulnerability resides in the `remote_agent.php` file. This file can be accessed without authentication. This function retrieves the IP address of the client via `get_client_addr` and resolves this IP address to the corresponding hostname via `gethostbyaddr`. After this, it is verified that an entry within the `poller` table exists, where the hostname corresponds to the resolved hostname. If such an entry was found, the function returns `true` and the client is authorized. This authorization can be bypassed due to the implementation of the `get_client_addr` function. The function is defined in the file `lib/functions.php` and checks serval `$_SERVER` variables to determine the IP address of the client. The variables beginning with `HTTP_` can be arbitrarily set by an attacker. Since there is a default entry in the `poller` table with the hostname of the server running Cacti, an attacker can bypass the authentication e.g. by providing the header `Forwarded-For: `. This way the function `get_client_addr` returns the IP address of the server running Cacti. The following call to `gethostbyaddr` will resolve this IP address to the hostname of
osv:DEBIAN-CVE-2022-46169
cacti
Fixed versions: 1.2.22+ds1-3
cacti
Fixed versions: 1.2.22+ds1-3
cacti
Fixed versions: 1.2.22+ds1-3
Complete source record
{
"id": "2550fb444f7bf70ecfb39425924b78c81f8c044381401b438fa7a1f0eb661a69",
"url": "https://osv.dev/vulnerability/DEBIAN-CVE-2022-46169",
"method": "structured",
"payload": {
"kind": "advisory",
"title": "DEBIAN-CVE-2022-46169",
"summary": "Cacti is an open source platform which provides a robust and extensible operational monitoring and fault management framework for users. In affected versions a command injection vulnerability allows an unauthenticated user to execute arbitrary code on a server running Cacti, if a specific data source was selected for any monitored device. The vulnerability resides in the `remote_agent.php` file. This file can be accessed without authentication. This function retrieves the IP address of the client via `get_client_addr` and resolves this IP address to the corresponding hostname via `gethostbyaddr`. After this, it is verified that an entry within the `poller` table exists, where the hostname corresponds to the resolved hostname. If such an entry was found, the function returns `true` and the client is authorized. This authorization can be bypassed due to the implementation of the `get_client_addr` function. The function is defined in the file `lib/functions.php` and checks serval `$_SERVER` variables to determine the IP address of the client. The variables beginning with `HTTP_` can be arbitrarily set by an attacker. Since there is a default entry in the `poller` table with the hostname of the server running Cacti, an attacker can bypass the authentication e.g. by providing the header `Forwarded-For: `. This way the function `get_client_addr` returns the IP address of the server running Cacti. The following call to `gethostbyaddr` will resolve this IP address to the hostname of ",
"evidence": "osv:DEBIAN-CVE-2022-46169",
"products": [
{
"name": {
"value": "cacti",
"evidence": "/affected/0/package/name"
},
"prerequisites": [],
"fixed_versions": [
{
"value": "1.2.22+ds1-3",
"evidence": "/affected/0/ranges"
}
],
"affected_versions": []
},
{
"name": {
"value": "cacti",
"evidence": "/affected/1/package/name"
},
"prerequisites": [],
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"evidence": "/affected/1/ranges"
}
],
"affected_versions": []
},
{
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},
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"fixed_versions": [
{
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"evidence": "/affected/2/ranges"
}
],
"affected_versions": []
}
],
"severity": "critical",
"structured": {
"id": "DEBIAN-CVE-2022-46169",
"aliases": [
"DEBIAN-CVE-2022-46169"
],
"metrics": [
{
"type": "CVSS_V3",
"score": "CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:L/PR:N/UI:N/S:U/C:H/I:H/A:H"
}
],
"affected": [
{
"ranges": [
{
"type": "ECOSYSTEM",
"events": [
{
"introduced": "0"
},
{
"fixed": "1.2.22+ds1-3"
}
]
}
],
"package": {
"name": "cacti",
"purl": "pkg:deb/debian/cacti?arch=source&distro=bookworm",
"ecosystem": "Debian:12"
},
"database_specific": {
"source": "https://storage.googleapis.com/debian-osv/debian-cve-osv/DEBIAN-CVE-2022-46169.json"
},
"ecosystem_specific": {
"urgency": "not yet assigned"
}
},
{
"ranges": [
{
"type": "ECOSYSTEM",
"events": [
{
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},
{
"fixed": "1.2.22+ds1-3"
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],
"package": {
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"purl": "pkg:deb/debian/cacti?arch=source&distro=trixie",
"ecosystem": "Debian:13"
},
"database_specific": {
"source": "https://storage.googleapis.com/debian-osv/debian-cve-osv/DEBIAN-CVE-2022-46169.json"
},
"ecosystem_specific": {
"urgency": "not yet assigned"
}
},
{
"ranges": [
{
"type": "ECOSYSTEM",
"events": [
{
"introduced": "0"
},
{
"fixed": "1.2.22+ds1-3"
}
]
}
],
"package": {
"name": "cacti",
"purl": "pkg:deb/debian/cacti?arch=source&distro=forky",
"ecosystem": "Debian:14"
},
"database_specific": {
"source": "https://storage.googleapis.com/debian-osv/debian-cve-osv/DEBIAN-CVE-2022-46169.json"
},
"ecosystem_specific": {
"urgency": "not yet assigned"
}
}
],
"modified": "2026-10-15T08:02:32.760121486Z",
"provider": "osv",
"upstream": [
"CVE-2022-46169"
],
"references": [
"https://security-tracker.debian.org/tracker/CVE-2022-46169"
]
},
"related_cves": [
{
"value": "CVE-2022-46169",
"evidence": "/upstream"
}
],
"security_relevant": true,
"severity_evidence": "/severity/0/score"
},
"source_id": "core-osv",
"document_id": 323573,
"published_at": "2022-12-05T21:15:10.527+00:00"
}