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Introduction:
Grafana, the ubiquitous open-source analytics and monitoring solution, has become a prime target for attackers due to its deep integration into corporate infrastructure and the wealth of sensitive data it aggregates. As a bug bounty hunter or a defender, staying ahead of these threats requires automated, comprehensive tools that can rapidly fingerprint versions, detect misconfigurations, and identify known vulnerabilities like CVE-2024-9264 and CVE-2025-3260. The Grafana Final Scanner is an open-source tool built to streamline this process, equipping penetration testers and security teams with a powerful arsenal for Grafana security assessment.
Learning Objectives:
- Deploy and execute a professional Grafana vulnerability scanner to map attack surfaces.
- Identify and exploit critical CVEs, including privilege escalation, authentication bypass, and RCE vulnerabilities.
- Harden a Grafana deployment using concrete Linux/Windows commands and configuration hardening techniques.
You Should Know:
- Weaponizing Automation: How to Deploy the Grafana Final Scanner
The “Grafana Final Scanner” is designed for rapid security assessments. While the specific tool referenced may be under active development, its core functionalities (CVE detection, version fingerprinting, config analysis) align with tools like the comprehensive Metasploit module and automated scanners. This step‑by‑step guide will show you how to set up and run a professional-grade Grafana vulnerability scanner using a robust, open-source Metasploit module available on GitHub.
Step‑by‑Step Guide:
- Clone the Tool: Begin by obtaining the scanner module from the GitHub repository.
git clone https://github.com/HamidouTlili/grafana-vulnerability-scanner.git cd grafana-vulnerability-scanner
- Install the Metasploit Module: Copy the module to Metasploit’s auxiliary scanner directory and set the correct permissions.
sudo cp grafana_vulnerability_scanner.rb /usr/share/metasploit-framework/modules/auxiliary/scanner/http/ sudo chmod 644 /usr/share/metasploit-framework/modules/auxiliary/scanner/http/grafana_vulnerability_scanner.rb
- Reload Metasploit: Update the Metasploit framework to recognize the new module.
sudo msfconsole -q -x "reload_all; exit"
- Launch the Scanner: Open the Metasploit console and configure the scanner for your target.
sudo msfconsole -q msf6 > use auxiliary/scanner/http/grafana_vulnerability_scanner
- Set Target and Credentials: Configure the scanner with the target’s IP, port, and optional credentials.
msf6 auxiliary(scanner/http/grafana_vulnerability_scanner) > set RHOSTS 192.168.1.100 msf6 auxiliary(scanner/http/grafana_vulnerability_scanner) > set RPORT 3000 msf6 auxiliary(scanner/http/grafana_vulnerability_scanner) > set USERNAME admin msf6 auxiliary(scanner/http/grafana_vulnerability_scanner) > set PASSWORD admin msf6 auxiliary(scanner/http/grafana_vulnerability_scanner) > set OUTPUT_FILE /home/kali/results.json
- Execute the Scan: Run the scanner and analyze the output.
msf6 auxiliary(scanner/http/grafana_vulnerability_scanner) > run
What This Does: This automated scanner performs version fingerprinting, checks for known CVEs, tests for SQL injections, scans for insecure plugins, and identifies dashboard security issues. The output is a comprehensive report highlighting the security posture of the target Grafana instance, which is invaluable for bug bounty reports and internal penetration tests.
- From Detection to Exploitation: Key Vulnerabilities to Hunt For
Modern Grafana instances are riddled with potential entry points. A proficient bug bounty hunter must be able to move beyond simple scanning and understand the underlying flaws. Here are three critical vulnerabilities you should actively hunt for and how to test them.
CVE-2024-9264: Critical RCE via SQL Expressions
This vulnerability allows an authenticated user with `VIEWER` permissions to achieve remote code execution via the experimental SQL Expressions feature. This feature allows duckdb queries, which, if unsanitized, can lead to command injection. The `duckdb` binary must be in Grafana’s PATH for the exploit to work, but its presence is a goldmine for an attacker.
– Test: After authentication, attempt to inject a system command into a SQL Expression field.
– Mitigation: Upgrade to Grafana versions 11.0.5+security-01, 11.1.6+security-01, or 11.2.1+security-01.
CVE-2025-3260: Authorization Bypass
This flaw allows authenticated users to bypass dashboard and folder permissions via the `/apis/dashboard.grafana.app/` endpoints. A viewer could potentially access all dashboards, and an editor could delete them all.
– Test: As a low-privilege user, attempt to access API endpoints for dashboards you shouldn’t see. Use the following `curl` command to test a target:
curl -X GET "https://target-grafana.com/apis/dashboard.grafana.app/v1alpha1/dashboards/" -H "Authorization: Bearer <low_priv_user_token>"
– Mitigation: Update to a fixed version where the patch is applied (e.g., version 11.6.1) and ensure anonymous access is disabled in production.
CVE-2025-4123: Open Redirect & Stored XSS
A bug-bounty discovered flaw in Grafana’s URL-sanitization logic. Attackers can smuggle a double-encoded path-traversal sequence (..%2F) into the `/redirect` endpoint, forcing a victim’s browser to an external site hosting a malicious plugin, leading to stored XSS and potential SSRF if the Grafana Image Renderer plugin is installed.
– Test: Craft a redirect link and see if the browser is forwarded to an external domain.
– Mitigation: Upgrade to patched releases like 12.0.0-security-01 or 11.6.1-security-01.
- Fortifying the Fortress: Linux & Windows Hardening Commands
Proactive defense is the best strategy. After conducting your scans, it’s crucial to know how to secure a Grafana instance. Here are actionable hardening commands and configurations.
Linux (Debian/Ubuntu):
- Remove `duckdb` (Mitigate CVE-2024-9264): Ensure the vulnerable binary is not in the PATH.
which duckdb Check if installed sudo apt-get remove duckdb Remove if found
- Configure HTTPS & Enforce Security Headers: Edit the `grafana.ini` file (usually located in
/etc/grafana/grafana.ini).[bash] protocol = https cert_file = /etc/grafana/ssl/grafana.crt cert_key = /etc/grafana/ssl/grafana.key [bash] allow_embedding = false cookie_secure = true
Then restart the service: `sudo systemctl restart grafana-server`.
- Harden API Access: Disable anonymous access and enforce strong authentication.
[auth.anonymous] enabled = false
- Set Up a Firewall (UFW): Restrict traffic to only trusted IPs.
sudo ufw allow from 192.168.1.0/24 to any port 3000 sudo ufw enable
Windows (Powershell as Administrator):
1. Restrict Network Access: Use the built-in firewall.
New-NetFirewallRule -DisplayName "Grafana_Whitelist" -Direction Inbound -LocalPort 3000 -Protocol TCP -Action Allow -RemoteAddress 192.168.1.0/24
2. Remove duckdb: Check and uninstall the vulnerable binary.
Get-Command duckdb | Format-List Remove-Item "C:\Path\to\duckdb.exe" -Force Adjust path as needed
3. Secure Grafana Configuration: Navigate to the Grafana conf directory and edit custom.ini.
[bash] disable_login_form = false disable_signout_menu = false [auth.basic] enabled = true
4. Mastering API Security: Beyond the Dashboard
A modern Grafana instance is an API-first application. Attackers often target API keys and endpoints, which are frequently misconfigured or overly permissive. Your assessment must include API security testing.
Common API Vulnerabilities:
- Exposed API Keys: Vulnerabilities like CVE-2025-3415 can expose third-party API keys (e.g., DingDing API keys), leading to lateral movement.
- Privilege Escalation via API: A malicious SCIM client could provision a user with a numeric
externalId, overriding internal user IDs and leading to impersonation or elevation of privileges, as seen in CVE-2025-41115. - Data Source Proxy Bypass: Adding an extra slash in the URL path can bypass authorization checks on the datasource proxy API, allowing an attacker to access sensitive data sources.
Testing Commands:
- Enumerate API Keys: Use tools like `ffuf` to fuzz for exposed API endpoints and keys.
ffuf -u https://target-grafana.com/api/auth/keys/FUZZ -w /path/to/keylist.txt
- Bypass Proxy Auth (CVE-2025-3260): Test for the slash-bypass technique.
curl -X GET "https://target-grafana.com//api/datasources/proxy/1/query" -H "Authorization: Bearer <valid_token>"
What Undercode Say:
- Knowledge is the Ultimate Weapon: Automated scanning is not a replacement for deep, manual understanding. The “Grafana Final Scanner” is a force multiplier, but the real power lies in interpreting its results and chaining seemingly low-severity findings into critical exploits.
- The Attack Surface is Expanding: As Grafana integrates deeper into cloud-native ecosystems (e.g., managed Grafana on AWS and Azure), the blast radius of a single vulnerability grows exponentially. A compromised Grafana instance is often a one-way ticket to the cloud’s control plane, exposing metadata services, database passwords, and on-call tokens.
Prediction:
The trend toward consolidation of observability and monitoring into platforms like Grafana will continue to make them high-value targets for supply chain and ransomware attacks. Future research will likely focus on zero-click exploits targeting the plugin architecture and automated, wormable payloads that spread from one misconfigured dashboard to another across a network. Defenders will need to move from periodic scanning to continuous, AI-driven posture management, treating their monitoring tools as the crown jewels they truly are.
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