REDHAT-BUG-2527474: High severity Grafana Grafana OSS vulnerability

Q: Who is exposed to exploitation?

Grafana OSS and Grafana Enterprise instances in the listed affected versions are exposed when they install a crafted plugin archive. This includes plugins that appear legitimate and pass catalogue validation and signing, as well as arbitrary archives installed with grafana-cli, GF_INSTALL_PLUGINS, or preinstall configuration.

Q: What access does an attacker need to achieve remote code execution?

An attacker needs a crafted plugin archive to be installed by the Grafana instance. The archive can use chained relative symbolic links to write files outside the plugin directory and place an executable backend binary that runs with Grafana server process privileges.

Q: Does plugin signing or catalogue validation prevent exploitation?

No. Plugin archives are extracted before signature verification, so signing does not prevent the arbitrary file write; the payload can also pass catalogue validation and signing.

Q: Is there a configuration workaround if an update cannot be applied immediately?

No configuration fully mitigates the issue before updating. Plugin signing does not mitigate it.

Q: How can I determine whether my deployment is affected?

Check whether Grafana OSS or Grafana Enterprise is running one of the listed affected versions: 12.0.0–12.0.10, 12.1.0–12.1.10, 12.2.0–12.2.10, 12.3.0–12.3.11, 12.4.0–12.4.9, 13.0.0–13.0.7, 13.1.0–13.1.4, or 13.2.0. Also identify whether plugins are installed through grafana-cli, GF_INSTALL_PLUGINS, or preinstall configuration.

Published Sep 2, 2026

Updated

Short description of the vulnerability: Grafana did not safely resolve symbolic links when extracting plugin archives. A crafted archive can chain relative symbolic-link entries to escape the plugin installation directory, write arbitrary files, and drop an executable backend binary outside that directory. The dropped executable runs with the privileges of the Grafana server process, which is remote code execution. Plugin archives are extracted before their signature is verified, so a valid signature does not prevent the write, and the payload also passes catalogue validation and signing. An instance can therefore be affected by installing a plugin that appears legitimate, as well as by installing a plugin from an arbitrary archive using grafana-cli, the GFINSTALLPLUGINS environment variable, or preinstall configuration.

Affected versions: Grafana OSS and Grafana Enterprise: 12.0.0 to 12.0.10, 12.1.0 to 12.1.10, 12.2.0 to 12.2.10, 12.3.0 to 12.3.11, 12.4.0 to 12.4.9, 13.0.0 to 13.0.7, 13.1.0 to 13.1.4, and 13.2.0.

Known mitigations:

Update to one of the private builds listed above. There is no configuration that fully mitigates this beforehand: plugin signing does not help, because extraction runs before signature verification, and catalogue review does not help, because the validator flattens the symbolic links and sees a benign plugin. Until you have updated, reduce exposure by not installing plugins from arbitrary archives, limiting installation to a vetted and pinned set of plugins, and keeping pluginadminenabled off where it is not needed.

Affected Software

2 affected components

Grafana Grafana OSS>=12.0.0<=12.0.10, >=12.1.0<=12.1.10, >=12.2.0<=12.2.10, >=12.3.0<=12.3.11, >=12.4.0<=12.4.9, >=13.0.0<=13.0.7, >=13.1.0<=13.1.4, =13.2.0

Grafana Grafana Enterprise>=12.0.0<=12.0.10, >=12.1.0<=12.1.10, >=12.2.0<=12.2.10, >=12.3.0<=12.3.11, >=12.4.0<=12.4.9, >=13.0.0<=13.0.7, >=13.1.0<=13.1.4, =13.2.0

Remediation

Recommended actions to resolve this vulnerability, in priority order.

Configuration
Keep plugin_admin_enabled off where plugin administration is not needed.
Grafana plugin_admin_enabled = off
Compensating control
Until Grafana is updated, do not install plugins from arbitrary archives; limit installation to a vetted and pinned set of plugins.

Event History

Sep 2, 2026

Data Sourced

via Red Hat·02:08 PM

DescriptionSeverityAffected Software

Frequently Asked Questions

Who is exposed to exploitation?

Grafana OSS and Grafana Enterprise instances in the listed affected versions are exposed when they install a crafted plugin archive. This includes plugins that appear legitimate and pass catalogue validation and signing, as well as arbitrary archives installed with grafana-cli, GF_INSTALL_PLUGINS, or preinstall configuration.

What access does an attacker need to achieve remote code execution?

An attacker needs a crafted plugin archive to be installed by the Grafana instance. The archive can use chained relative symbolic links to write files outside the plugin directory and place an executable backend binary that runs with Grafana server process privileges.

Does plugin signing or catalogue validation prevent exploitation?

No. Plugin archives are extracted before signature verification, so signing does not prevent the arbitrary file write; the payload can also pass catalogue validation and signing.

Is there a configuration workaround if an update cannot be applied immediately?

No configuration fully mitigates the issue before updating. Plugin signing does not mitigate it.

How can I determine whether my deployment is affected?

Check whether Grafana OSS or Grafana Enterprise is running one of the listed affected versions: 12.0.0–12.0.10, 12.1.0–12.1.10, 12.2.0–12.2.10, 12.3.0–12.3.11, 12.4.0–12.4.9, 13.0.0–13.0.7, 13.1.0–13.1.4, or 13.2.0. Also identify whether plugins are installed through grafana-cli, GF_INSTALL_PLUGINS, or preinstall configuration.

REDHAT-BUG-2527474: High severity Grafana Grafana OSS vulnerability

Affected Software

Remediation

Event History

Frequently Asked Questions

Who is exposed to exploitation?

What access does an attacker need to achieve remote code execution?

Does plugin signing or catalogue validation prevent exploitation?

Is there a configuration workaround if an update cannot be applied immediately?

How can I determine whether my deployment is affected?

Company

Resources

Contact

Frequently Asked Questions

Who is exposed to exploitation?

What access does an attacker need to achieve remote code execution?

Does plugin signing or catalogue validation prevent exploitation?

Is there a configuration workaround if an update cannot be applied immediately?

How can I determine whether my deployment is affected?