CVE-2026-23741 | ast_coredumper running as root sources ast_debug_tools.conf from /etc/asterisk; potentially leading to privilege escalation

Asterisk is an open source private branch exchange and telephony toolkit. Prior to versions 20.7-cert9, 20.18.2, 21.12.1, 22.8.2, and 23.2.2, the asterisk/contrib/scripts/ast_coredumper runs as root, as noted by the NOTES tag on line 689 of the ast_coredumper file. The script will source the contents of /etc/asterisk/ast_debug_tools.conf, which resides in a folder that is writeable by the asterisk user:group. Due to the /etc/asterisk/ast_debug_tools.conf file following bash semantics and it being loaded; an attacker with write permissions may add or modify the file such that when the root ast_coredumper is run; it would source and thereby execute arbitrary bash code found in the /etc/asterisk/ast_debug_tools.conf. This issue has been patched in versions 20.7-cert9, 20.18.2, 21.12.1, 22.8.2, and 23.2.2.

Published: 2026-02-06 Last update: 2026-02-18 Assigner: [email protected] Source: [email protected]
NVD Status：Analyzed，CVE State: published
View at NVD, CVE.org, EUVD

CVE-2026-23741 is rated Low Risk (17.3/100): low exploitation likelihood (EPSS 0.05%). Low composite risk—no urgent action required; patch on your normal maintenance cycle and revisit priority if CVSS or EPSS increases.

Risk is dynamic; we continuously reassess and refresh what is shown on this page as upstream context changes.

Exploit prediction scoring system (EPSS) score for CVE-2026-23741

EPSS lead: Daily EPSS estimates relative likelihood of exploitation; percentile ranks this CVE among scored vulnerabilities (higher = more severe relative rank).

# Date Old EPSS score New EPSS score Delta (New - Old)
1 2026-06-08 0.03% 0.05% +0.02%
2 2026-04-02 0.06% 0.03% -0.02%
3 2026-04-01 — 0.06% —

Full EPSS history (4 records total)

Common vulnerability scoring system (CVSS) metrics for CVE-2026-23741

CVSS metrics for this CVE.

Base score Version Severity Vector Exploitability Impact Score source
0.0 3.1 NONE
CVSS:3.1/AV:L/AC:L/PR:N/UI:R/S:C/C:N/I:N/A:N Click to expand
Attack vector (AV:L)
They already need access on the box, or another person has to do something wrong; it’s not a remote drive-by.
Attack complexity (AC:L)
Once they can reach the bug, pulling it off is straightforward—no weird race conditions or rare setup.
Privileges required (PR:N)
No account or special rights needed—anonymous or random user is enough.
User interaction (UI:R)
A real person has to do something—click, install, enable—otherwise it doesn’t land.
Scope (S:C)
Breaking this can reach past the original component and bite other resources—bigger blast radius.
Confidentiality (C:N)
Doesn’t really leak secrets in a meaningful way.
Integrity (I:N)
Data isn’t meaningfully altered or forged.
Availability (A:N)
Service keeps running; no real outage angle.
 1.8 0.0 [email protected]
8.8 3.1 HIGH
CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:L/PR:L/UI:N/S:U/C:H/I:H/A:H Click to expand
Attack vector (AV:N)
Could be attacked over the internet or any normal routed network—not just someone sitting at the machine.
Attack complexity (AC:L)
Once they can reach the bug, pulling it off is straightforward—no weird race conditions or rare setup.
Privileges required (PR:L)
A normal user session is enough; they don’t have to be admin.
User interaction (UI:N)
Nobody has to click “OK” or open a trap file; it can work without a victim helping.
Scope (S:U)
Damage stays in the same “trust bubble” as the broken component—no big spill into unrelated systems.
Confidentiality (C:H)
Serious risk that confidential data gets exposed in a big way.
Integrity (I:H)
They could widely tamper with or forge data—trust in the data is badly hurt.
Availability (A:H)
Could take the service down hard or make it unusable for people who depend on it.
 2.8 5.9 [email protected]

Weakness enumeration for CVE-2026-23741

OS Trackers for CVE-2026-23741

vendor priority summary link
alpine — CVE-2026-23741: 1 source package rows (asterisk); 101 state rows across 6 repos (3.19-main, 3.20-main, 3.21-main, 3.22-main, 3.23-main, edge-main); fixed 0, open 101. https://security.alpinelinux.org/vuln/CVE-2026-23741
debian not yet assigned CVE-2026-23741 not yet assigned priority: Debian including 1 source packages (asterisk), 2 status rows across 2 suites (bullseye, sid): resolved 2. https://security-tracker.debian.org/tracker/CVE-2026-23741
ubuntu medium CVE-2026-23741 medium priority: Ubuntu including 1 source packages (asterisk), 7 status rows across 7 suites (bionic, focal, jammy, noble, questing, upstream, xenial): needs-triage 7. https://ubuntu.com/security/CVE-2026-23741

Affected software / configurations for CVE-2026-23741

Vendor Product Version Raw CPE
sangoma asterisk < 20.18.2 cpe:2.3:a:sangoma:asterisk:*:*:*:*:*:*:*:*
sangoma asterisk >= 21.0.0, < 21.12.1 cpe:2.3:a:sangoma:asterisk:*:*:*:*:*:*:*:*
sangoma asterisk >= 22.0.0, < 22.8.2 cpe:2.3:a:sangoma:asterisk:*:*:*:*:*:*:*:*
sangoma asterisk >= 23.0.0, < 23.2.2 cpe:2.3:a:sangoma:asterisk:*:*:*:*:*:*:*:*
sangoma certified_asterisk <= 18.9 cpe:2.3:a:sangoma:certified_asterisk:*:*:*:*:*:*:*:*
sangoma certified_asterisk 20.7 cpe:2.3:a:sangoma:certified_asterisk:20.7:cert1:*:*:*:*:*:*
sangoma certified_asterisk 20.7 cpe:2.3:a:sangoma:certified_asterisk:20.7:cert1-rc1:*:*:*:*:*:*
sangoma certified_asterisk 20.7 cpe:2.3:a:sangoma:certified_asterisk:20.7:cert1-rc2:*:*:*:*:*:*
sangoma certified_asterisk 20.7 cpe:2.3:a:sangoma:certified_asterisk:20.7:cert2:*:*:*:*:*:*
sangoma certified_asterisk 20.7 cpe:2.3:a:sangoma:certified_asterisk:20.7:cert3:*:*:*:*:*:*
sangoma certified_asterisk 20.7 cpe:2.3:a:sangoma:certified_asterisk:20.7:cert4:*:*:*:*:*:*
sangoma certified_asterisk 20.7 cpe:2.3:a:sangoma:certified_asterisk:20.7:cert5:*:*:*:*:*:*
sangoma certified_asterisk 20.7 cpe:2.3:a:sangoma:certified_asterisk:20.7:cert6:*:*:*:*:*:*
sangoma certified_asterisk 20.7 cpe:2.3:a:sangoma:certified_asterisk:20.7:cert7:*:*:*:*:*:*
sangoma certified_asterisk 20.7 cpe:2.3:a:sangoma:certified_asterisk:20.7:cert8:*:*:*:*:*:*

References for CVE-2026-23741

cvelogic Threat Intelligence