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Critical

Plesk APS Application Catalog XPath Injection Leading to OS Command Execution

IdentifiersCVE-2026-44962CWE-643· Improper Neutralization of Data…

CVE-2026-44962 is a critical vulnerability in Plesk for Linux affecting the APS Application Catalog search functionality. The flaw is described as an XPath injection issue caused by improper sanitization of user-supplied input before it is interpolated into XPath queries. According to the provided content, an authenticated low-privileged user can exploit this weakness over the network, without user interaction, to manipulate the vulnerable query path and achieve arbitrary operating system command execution on the server. The resulting impact includes local privilege escalation and potential compromise of the underlying Linux host. Affected versions are Plesk for Linux prior to 18.0.75.1 and prior to 18.0.76.2.

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ANALYST BRIEF

Impact, mitigation & remediation

What it means. What to do now. Patch path, mitigations, and the assume-compromise checklist.

Impact

What an attacker gets, and what they’ve been doing with it.

Successful exploitation allows an authenticated low-privileged user to execute arbitrary operating system commands on the affected server. This can lead to local privilege escalation, administrative-level compromise, access to sensitive configuration and system data, modification or destruction of data, sabotage of hosted services, and broad impact to confidentiality, integrity, and availability. The provided content also notes changed scope and highlights elevated risk in shared hosting or multi-tenant environments.

Mitigation

If you can’t patch tonight, do this now.

If immediate patching is not possible, Plesk provided a temporary workaround by disabling APS via the panel configuration. The content states administrators can add an [aps] section to /usr/local/psa/admin/conf/panel.ini and set enabled = off, thereby disabling the vulnerable APS subsystem/catalog functionality. The content also notes this is only a temporary mitigation and not a substitute for applying the official security update; management components should be restarted after applying the workaround.

Remediation

Patch, then assume compromise.

Upgrade Plesk for Linux to a fixed release. The provided content states that Plesk addressed CVE-2026-44962 in versions 18.0.75.1 and 18.0.76.2, and administrators were advised to update immediately. Systems running versions prior to those fixed releases should be patched to the appropriate supported version containing the vendor fix.
PUBLIC EXPLOITS

Exploits

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VALID 0 / 0 TOTALView more in app

No public exploit code observed for this vulnerability.

EXPOSURE SURFACE

Affected products & vendors

Products and vendors Mallory has correlated with this vulnerability. Open in Mallory to drill down to specific CPE configurations and version ranges.

VendorProductType
PleskPleskapplication

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What this page doesn’t show

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Exposure mapping

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Threat actor evidence

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Associated malware

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Detection signatures

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Vendor-by-vendor mapping

Cross-references every affected SKU, including bundled OEM variants.

Social activity14

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