dbcve.org
Factory WatchmanApplication · Opensuse

CVE-2022-21944

HIGH · 7.8 CVSS v3.1 Published 2022-01-26
Fix available
A fix is available. Upgrade to after 4.9.1 or later.
See remediation →
80/100
Remediation priority · High
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
A UNIX Symbolic Link (Symlink) Following vulnerability in the systemd service file for watchman of openSUSE Backports SLE-15-SP3, Factory allows local attackers to escalate to root. This issue affects: openSUSE Backports SLE-15-SP3 watchman versions prior to 4.9.0. openSUSE Factory watchman versions prior to 4.9.0-9.1.

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

A symlink following vulnerability in the systemd service file for watchman allows local attackers to gain root privileges by exploiting improper symlink handling in the service configuration. The flaw enables a local user to manipulate symlinks to escalate to root access.

MitigationUpgrade watchman to version 4.9.0 or later (SLE-15-SP3) or version 4.9.0-9.1 or later (Factory) to resolve the symlink following issue. Alternatively, audit and secure the systemd service file permissions and paths.

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
Factory WatchmanApplication
Affected:<= 4.9.1

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
Local
Complexity
Low
Privileges
Low
User interaction
None
Scope
Unchanged
Confidentiality
High
Integrity
High
Availability
High

CVSS:3.1/AV:L/AC:L/PR:L/UI:N/S:U/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. Verify watchman is installed
    Run 'rpm -qa | grep watchman' (OpenSUSE) or check for the watchman binary at /usr/bin/watchman or /usr/local/bin/watchman
    Affected if watchman package or binary is present on the system
  2. Determine installed watchman version
    Run 'watchman --version' or 'rpm -q watchman --queryformat "%{VERSION}-%{RELEASE}"' to get the exact version number
    Affected if Version is 4.9.1 or lower, or for SLE-15-SP3 versions below 4.9.0, or Factory versions below 4.9.0-9.1
  3. Locate the systemd service file
    Run 'systemctl show watchman.service' or find the service file at /etc/systemd/system/watchman.service or /usr/lib/systemd/system/watchman.service
    Affected if A watchman.service file exists and is writable by non-root users
  4. Check service file permissions and symlinks
    Run 'ls -la /etc/systemd/system/watchman.service' and 'ls -la /usr/lib/systemd/system/watchman.service' to inspect ownership and permissions; check for symlinks with 'readlink -f <path>'
    Affected if The service file or its parent directory is writable by a local attacker or contains symlinks pointing to attacker-controlled locations
  5. Inspect service file content for unsafe paths
    Run 'cat /etc/systemd/system/watchman.service' (or the active service path) and check for ExecStart, WorkingDirectory, or PIDFile paths that may be exploitable symlinks
    Affected if The service configuration references paths in writable directories (e.g., /tmp, /var/tmp, or world-writable directories)
  6. Verify process ownership and privileges
    Run 'systemctl show watchman' and check the User= and Group= settings in the service file to confirm if watchman runs as root
    Affected if Watchman service runs as root (User=root) and the service file or related paths have weak permissions

A system is affected if watchman is installed with version 4.9.1 or lower on OpenSUSE Factory, runs as root, and the systemd service file or its associated directories have insecure permissions allowing symlink manipulation by local users.

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 a release after 4.9.1
Interim mitigation

Upgrade watchman to version 4.9.0 or later (SLE-15-SP3) or version 4.9.0-9.1 or later (Factory) to resolve the symlink following issue. Alternatively, audit and secure the systemd service file permissions and paths.

Recommended fix High confidence

watchman >= 4.9.0 (Backports SLE-15-SP3) or watchman >= 4.9.0-9.1 (Factory)

  1. Identify the current installed version of watchman using: zypper info watchman or rpm -qi watchman
  2. For openSUSE Backports SLE-15-SP3: Upgrade watchman to version 4.9.0 or later using: zypper update watchman or zypper in watchman>=4.9.0
  3. For openSUSE Factory: Upgrade watchman to version 4.9.0-9.1 or later using: zypper update watchman or zypper in watchman>=4.9.0-9.1
  4. Verify the installation of the fixed version: rpm -qi watchman
  5. Restart the watchman service if running: systemctl restart watchman

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

Fix this in Factory Watchman 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
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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-2022-21944 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
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  • No spam, self-promotion, credentials, or personal data