CVE-2020-8655

What is EyesOfNetwork?

EyesOfNetwork is an open-source IT infrastructure monitoring platform that combines network, system, and service monitoring (built around tools like Nagios/Centreon and Nmap) into a unified dashboard. Monitoring platforms like this typically run with elevated local privileges so they can execute scans, checks, and discovery tasks across the infrastructure they oversee — which is exactly the kind of privileged execution surface that turns a scripting or command-invocation bug into a full local root compromise.

Overview

CVE-2020-8655 is an improper privilege management vulnerability in EyesOfNetwork that allows a local user to run arbitrary commands as root by supplying a crafted Nmap Scripting Engine (NSE) script that gets invoked through the platform's use of nmap7. Because EyesOfNetwork's own operations run with elevated privileges to perform network discovery and monitoring tasks, a user who can influence which NSE script gets executed can piggyback on those elevated privileges to escalate to full root control of the monitoring host.

Technical Details

The flaw (CWE-269, Improper Privilege Management) arises because the platform does not adequately restrict or validate the NSE scripts it allows to be executed as part of its privileged Nmap-driven scanning functionality. Nmap's Scripting Engine is a powerful, general-purpose Lua scripting environment; when a lower-privileged user can supply or influence which script gets run by a process invoking nmap7 with elevated rights, that scripting capability becomes an arbitrary-command-execution primitive running as root. Exploitation requires local access and some user interaction (per the CVSS vector), consistent with a locally-triggered privilege escalation rather than a remote network attack.

Discovery

Published and patched by the EyesOfNetwork project as part of its standard vulnerability disclosure and release process.

Exploitation Context

CISA's KEV catalog listing confirms this vulnerability has been exploited in the wild. Monitoring platforms like EyesOfNetwork are frequently granted broad network reach and elevated local privileges by design, making a local privilege escalation bug in one of these platforms a valuable pivot point for an attacker who has already gained a limited foothold on the monitoring server itself.

Remediation

1. Apply the patched EyesOfNetwork release that addresses this NSE script handling issue.
2. Restrict local shell access on EyesOfNetwork monitoring servers to trusted administrative users only.
3. Audit which NSE scripts are permitted to run and under what invocation context, minimizing the ability of lower-privileged users to influence script selection.
4. Apply the principle of least privilege to the monitoring platform's service account where the architecture allows it, rather than relying on broad root access.
5. Review system logs for anomalous root-level command execution correlated with Nmap/NSE activity predating the patch.