dbcve.org
JenkinsApplication

CVE-2022-0538

HIGH · 7.5 CVSS v3.1 Published 2022-02-09
Fix available
A fix is available. Upgrade to 2.319.3 / 2.334 or later.
See remediation →
84/100
Remediation priority · High
Remotely reachable No privileges Zero-click

Official description Straight from the sourceThe vendor's or NVD's own wording, published unedited. Authoritative, but often terse — it says what broke, rarely what to do.

NVD · unedited
Jenkins 2.333 and earlier, LTS 2.319.2 and earlier defines custom XStream converters that have not been updated to apply the protections for the vulnerability CVE-2021-43859 and allow unconstrained resource usage.

Technical summary Written by usOur analysis, written from the advisory, the CVSS vector and the affected-version data. It adds context the advisory leaves out, and never invents facts that are not in the source.

dbcve analysis · high confidence

Jenkins versions 2.333 and earlier, including LTS 2.319.2 and earlier, contain custom XStream converters that were not updated to include protections from CVE-2021-43859, allowing unconstrained resource usage during XML deserialization and potentially leading to denial of service through resource exhaustion.

MitigationUpgrade Jenkins to version 2.334 or later (or LTS 2.319.3 or later) which includes properly constrained XStream converters with resource limits applied.

Verify against the referenced sources before acting — the references below are authoritative for this CVE, this summary is not.

Affected products & versions What the vendor confirmedThe version ranges the vendor confirmed as vulnerable. If your version sits inside a range here, treat yourself as exposed until you have upgraded.

NVD · CPE data
JenkinsApplication
Affected:< 2.319.3< 2.334

CVSS breakdown How the score is builtThe industry scoring standard. It rates how the flaw is reached, what it takes to exploit, and what an attacker gains — the score is derived from those, not the other way round.

From the vector
Attack vector
Network
Complexity
Low
Privileges
None
User interaction
None
Scope
Unchanged
Confidentiality
None
Integrity
None
Availability
High

CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:L/PR:N/UI:N/S:U/C:N/I:N/A:H

Am I affected? How to checkSteps we derive from the advisory and the affected-version data, so you can decide whether this CVE reaches your setup. They are a guide, not a scan — your own configuration is the authority.

dbcve checks

Work through these to decide whether this CVE applies to you.

  1. Check Jenkins version via UI
    Navigate to Manage Jenkins > About Jenkins to view the installed Jenkins version number
    Affected if The displayed version is earlier than 2.319.3 (for LTS) or earlier than 2.334 (for weekly releases)
  2. Check Jenkins version via URL
    Access the Jenkins version information at http://[your-jenkins-host]/api/json?tree=version or view the HTTP headers from a request to the Jenkins root URL
    Affected if The version returned is below 2.319.3 or below 2.334
  3. Check version via CLI if available
    Run 'java -jar jenkins-cli.jar -s http://[host] version' or check the jenkins.war file metadata if you have direct server access
    Affected if The returned version number is less than 2.319.3 or less than 2.334

You are affected if your Jenkins installation version is 2.319.2 or earlier (LTS) or 2.333 or earlier (weekly), as these versions contain unconstrained XStream converters vulnerable to resource exhaustion during XML deserialization.

Generated from the published advisory. Verify against your own configuration.

Check your environment

Paste your version and any relevant configuration and it will be compared against the affected criteria above. Do not include secrets or credentials.

AI-assisted, checked against the advisory. Informational, not a guarantee.

Remediation Closing itWhat it takes to close this. Where a vendor fix exists we point at it; where none exists we say so plainly, and can build one. Effort estimates are scoped from the advisory, not from your codebase.

dbcve · scoped
Upgrade available Upgrade to 2.319.3 / 2.334 or later
Fixed in 2.319.32.334
Interim mitigation

Upgrade Jenkins to version 2.334 or later (or LTS 2.319.3 or later) which includes properly constrained XStream converters with resource limits applied.

Recommended fix High confidence

Jenkins LTS 2.319.3 or later (weekly 2.334 or later)

  1. 1. Back up your Jenkins home directory (/var/lib/jenkins or $JENKINS_HOME) and configuration
  2. 2. Schedule maintenance window as Jenkins will need to restart
  3. 3. Download Jenkins LTS 2.319.3 (or weekly 2.334 or later) from https://www.jenkins.io/download/
  4. 4. Stop the Jenkins service (e.g., systemctl stop jenkins or kill the Java process)
  5. 5. Install the new Jenkins WAR file: replace the existing jenkins.war in your installation directory
  6. 6. Start the Jenkins service
  7. 7. Verify the upgrade: check Manage Jenkins > About Jenkins shows version 2.319.3 or later
  8. 8. Confirm the vulnerability is resolved by reviewing the security fix notes in Jenkins 2.319.3 release notes
Caveat Standard Jenkins upgrade - review plugin compatibility before upgrading; some plugins may require updates for the new Jenkins version

Generated from the published advisory — verify against the referenced sources before acting.

Fix this in Jenkins Scoped from the published advisory
  • Consultation2.0 h
  • Implementation2.0 h
  • Testing2.0 h
  • Review / QA1.0 h
7.0 hours of engineering $1,240
Get the upgrade done

An estimate, not a bill — we confirm scope with you before any work starts. Need it this week? Rush from $1,984.

Scan for this in your stack

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References Go to the primary sourcePrimary sources — vendor advisories, patches and trackers. Where our summary and a reference disagree, the reference wins.

Primary sources

Practitioner notes

Contributed

Peer-ranked notes from engineers who’ve handled CVE-2022-0538 in production — separate from our analysis above.

No notes yet

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What this is

A place for practitioners to share what actually worked: a mitigation you’ve tested, a configuration change, a version- or environment-specific caveat, or a link to a verified patch. The most useful notes rise to the top as peers upvote them, so the signal stays high.

What belongs here
  • Verified mitigations, workarounds, and config changes
  • Version or environment caveats, and links to real fixes
  • No weaponised exploit code, or anything meant to cause harm
  • No spam, self-promotion, credentials, or personal data