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Actively exploited in the wild. This CVE is on the CISA Known Exploited Vulnerabilities list — treat remediation as urgent. Federal remediation due by 18 Apr 2022.
RedisDatabase / datastore

CVE-2022-0543

CRITICAL · 10.0 CVSS v3.1 Published 2022-02-18
Patch available
A vendor patch is available. No clean upgrade release — apply the published patch.
See remediation →
100/100
Remediation priority · Urgent
In the wild High EPSS Public exploit Remotely reachable No privileges Zero-click Patch available

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
It was discovered, that redis, a persistent key-value database, due to a packaging issue, is prone to a (Debian-specific) Lua sandbox escape, which could result in remote code execution.

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

Redis contains a Debian-specific packaging flaw where the Lua library bundled with Debian's Redis packages allows sandbox escape due to insufficient isolation. An attacker can execute arbitrary code by leveraging the compromised Lua environment within Redis's EVAL command or similar Lua execution contexts.

MitigationUpdate Redis to the latest Debian-packaged version that includes the corrected Lua sandbox or recompile Redis with a properly sandboxed Lua library. On non-Debian systems, verify the Lua integration does not allow sandbox escape.

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
RedisDatabase / datastore
Affected:all versions

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
Changed
Confidentiality
High
Integrity
High
Availability
High

CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:L/PR:N/UI:N/S:C/C:H/I:H/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. Identify if Redis is Debian-packaged
    Run 'dpkg -l | grep redis' or 'dpkg -l | grep redis-server' to list Redis packages installed via Debian apt repository
    Affected if Redis is installed via Debian packages (shows packages like redis-server, redis-tools with Debian version suffixes)
  2. Check installed Debian Redis version
    Run 'apt-cache policy redis-server' to see the available and installed version of the Debian-packaged Redis
    Affected if The installed version is lower than the latest patched version available in Debian repositories for your Debian release
  3. Verify Lua scripting is enabled
    Check Redis config file (typically /etc/redis/redis.conf) for 'enable-debug-command local' or inspect running Redis with 'redis-cli CONFIG GET lua-time-limit'
    Affected if Lua scripting features are enabled (lua-time-limit is set to a value and/or debug commands are accessible)
  4. Check Redis network exposure
    Inspect Redis config for 'bind' directive (in /etc/redis/redis.conf) and check if password authentication ('requirepass') is configured using 'redis-cli CONFIG GET requirepass'
    Affected if Redis is bound to a non-loopback interface (0.0.0.0 or external IP) OR no password is set, allowing remote access
  5. Confirm Lua library version (optional)
    Check the Debian Lua library package version with 'dpkg -l | grep lua' - specifically look for liblua5.1-0 or similar packages
    Affected if Running outdated Debian Lua libraries tied to vulnerable Redis packages

You are affected if Redis was installed via Debian/Ubuntu packages (not rebuilt from upstream source), uses an older unpatched version, and has Lua scripting enabled with network exposure or no password protection.

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
Patch available Apply the vendor patch
Vendor patch bugs.debian.org →
Interim mitigation

Update Redis to the latest Debian-packaged version that includes the corrected Lua sandbox or recompile Redis with a properly sandboxed Lua library. On non-Debian systems, verify the Lua integration does not allow sandbox escape.

Recommended fix High confidence

Debian: redis (Debian package) from any version to the version available in Debian Security Updates (DSA-5000-1 or later). Ubuntu: redis-server from any version to the version in the Ubuntu Security Notice USN-5221-1 or later.

  1. Update your package lists: apt-get update
  2. Apply the security fix for Debian: apt-get install --only-upgrade redis-server (or redis-sentinel if used)
  3. Restart the Redis service: systemctl restart redis-server (or redis-sentinel)
  4. Verify the fix by checking the installed version matches the patched release
Caveat The patch is a drop-in security fix; no breaking changes expected for normal Redis usage. Minor Lua script adjustments may be needed if you relied on the vulnerable sandbox behavior.

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

Fix this in Redis Exploited in the wild — priority engagement
  • Consultation1.0 h
  • Implementation2.0 h
  • Testing2.0 h
  • Review / QA1.0 h
6.0 hours of engineering $1,040
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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-2022-0543 in production — separate from our analysis above.

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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