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Local privilege escalation to root via nable-writable syslog-ng config

8.6HighCNA
Exploited
No known exploitation
Fix
Fixed in 26.4.1
Who is exposed
Not reported

Do first: Upgrade to a fixed version: 26.4.1.

Published
Last modified
Reference
Last checked
12/100 · provisional
None on Exploit-DB, Metasploit or GitHub

Summary

The N-able N-central monitoring software contains a flaw in how it assigns privileges, allowing an attacker who already holds a logged-in account to gain full root control of the system. The attack can be launched over the network, but it requires the attacker to have high-level credentials first.

Written by anthropic/claude-haiku-5.5 from the sources below. Verify against them.

Read the original description

Incorrect privilege assignment vulnerability in N-able N-central allows Privilege Escalation.

This issue affects N-central: before 26.4.1.

cve.now Index

12Pcve.now Index 12 of 100 · methodology v3 · provisional
  • Exploitation?/40Unknown. No CISA SSVC exploitation rating yet
  • Exposure3/25Reachable over the network · Unknown: No advisory context yet
  • Reach?/20Unknown. No tracked technology or package matched
  • Severity8.6/10CVSS 8.6
  • No patch0/5No signal

What would change the score

  • Would score about 67 if added to CISA KEV
  • Would score about 62 if CISA's SSVC rates exploitation active
  • Would score about 31 if advisories confirm default setups are exposed

What to do

  • Upgrade to a fixed version: 26.4.1.

Check your systems with an agent

Paste this into a coding or ops agent. It checks your systems read-only and reports a table per asset.

Check whether my systems are affected by CVE-2026-125879 (Local privilege escalation to root via nable-writable syslog-ng config), using the cve.now data below.

Rules: work read-only. Do not run exploit code, proof-of-concept scripts or scanners that send attack payloads, and do not change any configuration, package, image or deployment. Report findings only.

What cve.now has for CVE-2026-125879 (entry last updated 2026-11-10):
Affected:
- N-able N-central: fixed in 26.4.1
Fixed versions: 26.4.1.
Setup: unknown whether the bug needs a non-default feature or setting. Check the advisory.
CISA KEV: CVE-2026-125879 is not listed as of cve.now's last read.
This KEV status is for CVE-2026-125879 only. If you also check another CVE, look up its own KEV status; never assume it from this one.

How to check:
- Installed software: check what is actually running, not what a repo declares. Read the version from each host, container image and Kubernetes node (the binary's version output, the OS package database, image layers), and check whether the conditions above hold there. Distribution packages may carry a backported fix under an older version number; confirm against the distribution's own advisory.

Verify against the linked advisories before concluding, and cite the date you read each one:
- https://me.n-able.com/s/security-advisory/aArVy0000002ikvKAA/cve2026125879-local-privilege-escalation-to-root-via-nablewritable-config
Do not conclude an asset is unaffected unless you checked it and the evidence covers both its version and the conditions above. If you could not check something, mark it unknown and say what is missing.

Report a table with one row per asset and these columns: Asset | Version or build | Status (affected, fixed, not applicable, unknown) | Compensating controls | Exposure (internet-facing, internal, none) | Evidence | Next action.

Entry: https://cve.now/CVE-2026-125879
For follow-up questions, use the cve.now MCP server at https://mcp.cve.now/mcp (no authentication), for example get_vulnerability with id CVE-2026-125879.

Timeline

  1. CVE published
  2. First seen by cve.now

Affected versions

  • N-able N-central

    fixed in 26.4.1

Evidence 3

CVE record · 2

Establishes: The identifier and description.

  1. Record
  2. Record

Other links · 1

  1. Advisory

Corrections

None so far.

Something wrong on this page? Report an error. Every fix is listed here.

Questions about CVE-2026-125879

Is CVE-2026-125879 being exploited?

It is not in CISA's Known Exploited Vulnerabilities catalog, and CISA's SSVC assessment does not mark exploitation as active. That does not mean it has not been attacked: vendors and researchers can report attacks before CISA lists them. No public exploit code is tracked.Source: cve.now feed data

Which versions are affected by CVE-2026-125879?

N-central: before 26.4.1.Source: cve.now feed data

How do I fix CVE-2026-125879?

Upgrade to a fixed version: 26.4.1.Source: cve.now feed data