---
id: "CVE-2026-88858"
kind: "vulnerability"
aliases: ["CVE-2026-88858"]
title: "Grafana: crafted math expression crashes the server, and it persists across restarts"
severity: "medium"
cvss: 6.5
epss: null
exploited: false
status: "open"
category: "package"
products: []
ecosystems: []
tags: ["grafana", "package", "self-hosted"]
not_affected_if: ["managed-hosting"]
published_at: "2026-10-28T17:18:45+00:00"
first_seen_at: "2026-10-28T17:34:10+00:00"
updated_at: "2026-10-28T17:36:24+00:00"
sources: [{"source": "nvd", "url": "https://nvd.nist.gov/vuln/detail/CVE-2026-88858", "first_seen_at": "2026-10-28T17:34:10+00:00"}]
---

# Grafana: crafted math expression crashes the server, and it persists across restarts

A Grafana user with the Viewer role can submit a crafted server-side math expression that triggers uncontrolled recursion and crashes the server. A user allowed to provision alert rules can store the expression so the outage repeats after each restart.

_Summary, check and fix written by a model from the sources; labelled as such._

## How to check

- Check the running Grafana version with `grafana-server -v` or the About page in the UI.
- Look for server-side expressions in alert rules that you did not create.

## Fix

- Upgrade Grafana to a patched release; the sources do not name the fixed version, so check the Grafana advisory.
- Remove any stored alert rule containing the crafted math expression if the server keeps crashing after restart.

## Timeline

- 2026-10-28T17:34:10+00:00 nvd https://nvd.nist.gov/vuln/detail/CVE-2026-88858

## From the sources

A user with the Viewer role in Grafana can crash the server by submitting a crafted server-side math expression (uncontrolled recursion). A user with permission to provision alert rules can make the outage persist across restarts.

---

_Free to read at a human pace. An API with keys and an MCP server are in preparation; early access: hello@infrastack.ai_