Description
pfSense CE through 2.9.0 contains a crontab injection vulnerability in interfaces_ppps_edit.php that allows authenticated users to execute commands as root by injecting newlines into the ptpid or reset hour/minute fields. Attackers holding the 'WebCfg - Interfaces: PPPs: Edit' privilege can submit crafted POST values that configure_cron() writes unescaped into /etc/crontab, running arbitrary root commands on schedule.
Affected products
| Vendor | Product | Affected | Fixed |
|---|---|---|---|
| Netgate | pfSense CE | ≤ 2.9.0 | — |
Advisories 1
- WID-SEC-2026-3983 Netgate pfSense: Mehrere Schwachstellen BSI CERT-Bund (WID) · Oct 15, 2026
References
- https://github.com/abraxas/pfsense-pppoe-cron exploit technical-description
- https://abraxaslabs.tech/research/pfsense-ce-leftovers technical-description
- https://github.com/pfsense/pfsense/blob/9363ac5b8651a1c7a333180425ce7719070f95f9/src/etc/inc/interfaces.inc#L2174-L2214 technical-description
- https://github.com/pfsense/pfsense/blob/9363ac5b8651a1c7a333180425ce7719070f95f9/src/usr/local/www/interfaces_ppps_edit.php#L271-L278 technical-description
- https://github.com/pfsense/pfsense/blob/9363ac5b8651a1c7a333180425ce7719070f95f9/src/etc/inc/services.inc#L5652-L5660 technical-description
- VulnCheck Advisory: Netgate pfSense CE through 2.9.0 Crontab Injection via PPP Periodic Reset ptpid third-party-advisory