FedoraOperating system · Fedoraproject

CVE-2022-24903

HIGH · 8.1 CVSS v3.1 Published 2022-05-06
Fix available
A fix is available. Upgrade to 8.2204.1 or later.
See remediation →
90/100
Remediation priority · Urgent
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
Rsyslog is a rocket-fast system for log processing. Modules for TCP syslog reception have a potential heap buffer overflow when octet-counted framing is used. This can result in a segfault or some other malfunction. As of our understanding, this vulnerability can not be used for remote code execution. But there may still be a slight chance for experts to do that. The bug occurs when the octet count is read. While there is a check for the maximum number of octets, digits are written to a heap buffer even when the octet count is over the maximum, This can be used to overrun the memory buffer. However, once the sequence of digits stop, no additional characters can be added to the buffer. In our opinion, this makes remote exploits impossible or at least highly complex. Octet-counted framing is one of two potential framing modes. It is relatively uncommon, but enabled by default on receivers. Modules `imtcp`, `imptcp`, `imgssapi`, and `imhttp` are used for regular syslog message reception. It is best practice not to directly expose them to the public. When this practice is followed, the risk is considerably lower. Module `imdiag` is a diagnostics module primarily intended for testbench runs. We do not expect it to be present on any production installation. Octet-counted framing is not very common. Usually, it needs to be specifically enabled at senders. If users do not need it, they can turn it off for the most important modules. This will mitigate the vulnerability.

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
How this class of weakness works · CWE-120

A fixed-size buffer is filled without checking the length of the incoming data, so it overflows into neighbouring memory. This is the classic overflow attackers use to overwrite return addresses and hijack execution. The fix is strict length checks and safe, bounded string and memory functions.

General guidance for the classic buffer overflow class — the official description and references above are authoritative for this specific CVE. Want a bespoke review and a reviewed fix? Ask our team →

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
FedoraOperating system
Affected:= 35
Debian LinuxOperating system
Affected:= 9.0= 10.0= 11.0
RsyslogApplication
Affected:< 8.2204.1
Active Iq Unified ManagerApplication
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
High
Privileges
None
User interaction
None
Scope
Unchanged
Confidentiality
High
Integrity
High
Availability
High

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

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 8.2204.1 or later
Fixed in 8.2204.1
Vendor patch github.com →
Recommended fix High confidence

Rsyslog 8.2204.1 or later; Fedora: apply latest rsyslog updates; Debian: apply latest rsyslog security updates

  1. 1. Identify the current rsyslog version installed (e.g., rsyslogd --version)
  2. 2. For Rsyslog installations: upgrade to version 8.2204.1 or later from the official rsyslog repository
  3. 3. For Fedora 35: run 'dnf update rsyslog' to apply available security patches
  4. 4. For Debian 9/10/11: run 'apt update && apt upgrade rsyslog' to obtain patched packages
  5. 5. For NetApp Active IQ Unified Manager: contact NetApp support for the vendor-specific patch
  6. 6. After upgrading, restart the rsyslog service (e.g., 'systemctl restart rsyslog' or 'service rsyslog restart')
  7. 7. As a secondary mitigation if immediate upgrade is not possible, disable octet-counted framing in rsyslog configuration by setting '$InputTCPServerStreamDriverMode 1' and avoiding octet-counted framing in module configurations
Caveat Upgrading rsyslog may introduce configuration changes; review release notes for compatibility with existing configs; some third-party modules may require updates

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

We can perform the upgrade in your staging environment and verify nothing breaks — typical engagement from $3,200. Get the upgrade done

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-2022-24903 in production — separate from our analysis above.

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What this is

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What belongs here
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  • Version or environment caveats, and links to real fixes
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