⚠ Reference material — not professional advice. Test in staging, back up first, verify against your specific version. Use your own judgment for your environment.
● High · CVSS 8.8

How to Fix CVE-2026-26990: SQL Injection in librenms

Other vulnerabilities in the same area that are worth patching alongside this one:

*By Sai Kiran Pandrala*

⚡ At a glance
SeverityCVSS 8.8 - High
Actively exploited?Not currently listed in CISA KEV
Affected< 26.2.0
Fixed inSee vendor advisory
Type (CWE)CWE-89: Improper Neutralization of Special Elements used in an SQL Command ('SQL Injection')

What is CVE-2026-26990?

CVE-2026-26990 is a SQL injection flaw in librenms. User input reaches a database query without proper parameterization, letting an attacker read, modify, or in some cases execute commands through stacked queries or out-of-band channels. Vendor description: LibreNMS is an auto-discovering PHP/MySQL/SNMP based network monitoring tool. Versions 25.12.0 and below have a Time-Based Blind SQL Injection vulnerability in address-search.inc.php via the address parameter.

Why this CVE matters

SQL injection against a management product is rarely just a data leak. Once an attacker can read or write to the application database, the chain commonly ends with credential theft, persistence via scheduled tasks, or stacked queries that pivot into the operating system.

For deployments of librenms that have been exposed to the public internet during the disclosure window, the operating assumption should be that scanning has already happened. Even where exploitation has not been publicly observed, scanning for the vulnerable fingerprint is cheap and routine. Patching closes the door; log review and credential rotation close out the rest of the response.

Am I affected?

You are affected if your installation matches any of these version ranges:

Check your installed version against the list above. If you cannot determine the version, treat the system as affected and follow the upgrade path below.

Open librenms's About dialog or run the vendor-documented version-check command. Compare the result against the affected ranges in the advisory.

How to fix CVE-2026-26990

  1. Read the vendor advisory in full: https://github.com/librenms/librenms/security/advisories/GHSA-79q9-wc6p-cf92
  2. Upgrade librenms to the patched build listed in the vendor advisory.
  3. Back up the configuration (and database, where applicable) before upgrading.
  4. Rotate any credentials, API keys, or session tokens that the vulnerable service touched. An unauthenticated RCE-class flaw means anything the process could see should be treated as exposed.
  5. Apply the patch in a maintenance window. For HA pairs, upgrade the standby node first, fail over, then upgrade the former primary.
  6. Restart the affected service so the patched binary loads, then verify the new version (see verification section).

The commands below are runnable starting points. Adapt the package name, target version, and host paths to your environment using the vendor advisory linked under References.

npm / Yarn / pnpm


# Vendor advisory: https://github.com/librenms/librenms/security/advisories/GHSA-79q9-wc6p-cf92
# Update to the patched release named in the advisory
npm install librenms@latest
# or pin to the exact fixed version from the vendor advisory
npm install librenms@<patched-version>
npm ls librenms

PyPI (pip / Poetry)


# Vendor advisory: https://github.com/librenms/librenms/security/advisories/GHSA-79q9-wc6p-cf92
pip install --upgrade librenms
pip show librenms | grep -i version
# Poetry:
poetry add librenms@^<patched-version>

Docker / container


# Vendor advisory: https://github.com/librenms/librenms/security/advisories/GHSA-79q9-wc6p-cf92
docker pull <your-registry>/librenms:<patched-tag>
docker stop <app> && docker rm <app>
docker run -d --name <app> <your-registry>/librenms:<patched-tag>

PowerShell detect/upgrade/verify/log (Windows)


# CVE-2026-26990 remediation runner. Adapt version checks to your environment.
$log = "C:\Logs\CVE-2026-26990-fix.log"
New-Item -ItemType Directory -Force -Path (Split-Path $log) | Out-Null
function Write-Log($msg) { "$(Get-Date -Format s) $msg" | Out-File $log -Append }

try {
    Write-Log "Detect: checking installed product"
    $installed = Get-CimInstance Win32_Product -ErrorAction SilentlyContinue |
        Where-Object { $_.Name -match 'librenms' }
    if (-not $installed) { Write-Log "Product not installed; nothing to do"; return }
    Write-Log "Found version $($installed.Version)"

    Write-Log "Backup: copying program files and registry hive"
    $stamp = Get-Date -Format yyyyMMdd-HHmm
    $backup = "C:\Backup\CVE-2026-26990-$stamp"
    New-Item -ItemType Directory -Force -Path $backup | Out-Null
    Copy-Item $installed.InstallLocation $backup -Recurse -ErrorAction SilentlyContinue
    reg export HKLM\Software\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Uninstall "$backup\uninstall.reg" /y | Out-Null

    Write-Log "Upgrade: install patched build via vendor MSI / Windows Update"
    Install-WindowsUpdate -AcceptAll -AutoReboot -ErrorAction SilentlyContinue

    Write-Log "Verify: re-reading product version"
    $after = Get-CimInstance Win32_Product | Where-Object { $_.Name -match 'librenms' }
    Write-Log "Post-patch version: $($after.Version)"
    if ($after.Version -ne $installed.Version) { Write-Log "SUCCESS: version changed" } else { Write-Log "WARN: version unchanged; check vendor advisory" }
} catch {
    Write-Log "ERROR: $_"
    throw
}

Bash detect/upgrade/verify/log (Linux)


#!/usr/bin/env bash
# CVE-2026-26990 remediation runner. Re-runnable, exits non-zero on failure.
set -euo pipefail
log() { printf '%s %s\n' "$(date -Is)" "$*" | tee -a /var/log/cve-2026-26990-fix.log; }

log "Detect: current php version"
if command -v dpkg >/dev/null 2>&1; then
    current=$(dpkg-query -W -f='${Version}' php 2>/dev/null || echo "not-installed")
elif command -v rpm >/dev/null 2>&1; then
    current=$(rpm -q --qf '%{VERSION}-%{RELEASE}' php 2>/dev/null || echo "not-installed")
else
    current="unknown"
fi
log "Current: $current"

log "Backup: snapshotting config"
backup="/var/backups/cve-2026-26990-$(date +%Y%m%d-%H%M)"
mkdir -p "$backup"
[ -d /etc/php ] && cp -a /etc/php "$backup/" || true

log "Upgrade: applying vendor patch"
if command -v apt-get >/dev/null 2>&1; then
    sudo apt-get update -qq
    sudo apt-get install -y --only-upgrade php
elif command -v dnf >/dev/null 2>&1; then
    sudo dnf upgrade -y php
elif command -v yum >/dev/null 2>&1; then
    sudo yum update -y php
fi

log "Verify: re-reading php version"
if command -v dpkg >/dev/null 2>&1; then
    after=$(dpkg-query -W -f='${Version}' php)
else
    after=$(rpm -q --qf '%{VERSION}-%{RELEASE}' php)
fi
log "After: $after"

if [ "$after" != "$current" ]; then
    log "SUCCESS: php upgraded"
else
    log "WARN: version unchanged. Confirm the patched build is in your repository."
    exit 1
fi

If you cannot patch immediately

Front the affected endpoint with a WAF rule that blocks SQL metacharacters in the vulnerable parameters. This is a stopgap, not a fix. Patch promptly.

How to verify the fix worked

If your installation was internet-reachable during the disclosure window, treat log review as part of the remediation rather than an optional follow-up. Look for unexpected administrator accounts in librenms, scheduled tasks or cron jobs you did not create, new files in web-accessible directories, and outbound connections to addresses not in your baseline. Suspicious requests to the vulnerable endpoint immediately followed by successful 200-class responses with unusually large bodies are a strong indicator of exploitation.

Frequently asked questions

Is CVE-2026-26990 being exploited in the wild?

Public exploitation has not been confirmed by CISA at the time of writing. Treat the patch as time-sensitive anyway; reports often lag actual abuse.

Will a WAF or IDS rule fully mitigate CVE-2026-26990?

No. Network-layer filters can reduce noise and slow opportunistic scanners, but they will not stop a determined attacker. The vendor patch is the only durable fix.

Do I need to assume compromise if my librenms was internet-facing and unpatched?

For an unauthenticated RCE-class flaw exposed to the public internet during the known exploitation window, yes. Review logs, rotate credentials the process could access, and look for unexpected accounts, scheduled tasks, or outbound connections.

References

*This guide was assembled from the official vendor advisory, the NVD record, and the CISA KEV catalog entry on 2026-05-25. Always confirm against the vendor advisory before applying changes in production.*