CVE-2026-54161

What it is

Network UPS Tools is a collection of programs which provide a common interface for monitoring and administering UPS, PDU and SCD hardware. From 2.8.3 to 2.8.5, upsmon in clients/upsmon.c inserts the server-supplied ups.alarm value into shell commands executed by notify(), async_notify(), and wall(). When a monitored device reports an ALARM state and an operator has configured NOTIFYCMD with EXEC in NOTIFYFLAG ALARM, shell metacharacters in the alarm text are evaluated on POSIX or Windows and can execute arbitrary operating-system commands as the upsmon account, which is commonly root. An attacker can control the value through a malicious or compromised upsd, a man-in-the-middle on a plaintext upsd to upsmon connection, or a compromised UPS device whose driver supplies the alarm upstream of upsd; TLS between upsd and upsmon does not mitigate the compromised-device path. This vulnerability is fixed in 2.8.6.

At a glance

Exploitability

Can be exploited over the network without logging in. High risk of data exposure, data tampering, service disruption.

Exploit odds

0.6% chance of exploitation in the next 30 days (EPSS).

Fix

A patch, advisory or fixed version is referenced. Upgrade or apply it.

Timeline

1. 2026-06-11 21:46 UTC ReservedThe CVE id was reserved by its CNA
2. 2026-11-03 20:18 UTC PublishedDisclosed publicly on CVE.org and NVD
3. 2026-11-03 23:17 UTC Last updatedMost recent change to the record

Why it ranks here

• Exploited in the wild: no, CISA does not list it.
• Exploit odds: 0.6% in the next 30 days (EPSS).
• Severity: 8.1 HIGH (CVSS).
• Fix: a patch or advisory is linked.

Details

Published

2026-11-03 20:18 UTC

Last modified

2026-11-03 23:17 UTC

Exploit probability

0.6% · EPSS, next 30 days

Weakness

CWE-78 · OS command injection

Record status

Received

Attack profile CVSS 3.1 · 8.1

Attack vector

Network

Complexity

High

Privileges needed

None

User interaction

None

Scope

Unchanged

Confidentiality

High

Integrity

High

Availability

High

Is it in your code?

Hand this to your coding agent. It searches your project for the affected products and checks versions. Nothing leaves your machine.

Read https://cve-list.com/agent/cve/CVE-2026-54161.md and follow it. Check whether this project is affected by CVE-2026-54161. Read only. Don't change anything and don't upload my code. Tell me yes, no or not sure, with the file as proof.

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