CVE-2022-29085
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 · uneditedDell Unity, Dell UnityVSA, and Dell Unity XT versions prior to 5.2.0.0.5.173 contain a plain-text password storage vulnerability when certain off-array tools are run on the system. The credentials of a user with high privileges are stored in plain text. A local malicious user with high privileges may use the exposed password to gain access with the privileges of the compromised user.
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 confidenceDell Unity, UnityVSA, and Unity XT storage systems prior to version 5.2.0.0.5.173 store privileged user credentials in plain text when certain off-array tools are executed on the system. A local attacker with high privileges can recover these exposed passwords to impersonate the compromised high-privilege user.
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< 5.2.0.0.5.173< 5.2.0.0.5.173< 5.2.0.0.5.173CVSS 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
- High
- User interaction
- None
- Scope
- Unchanged
- Confidentiality
- High
- Integrity
- High
- Availability
- High
CVSS:3.1/AV:L/AC:L/PR:H/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 checksWork through these to decide whether this CVE applies to you.
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Identify the installed Dell Unity product and versionAccess the system management interface or use the command line to retrieve the operating environment version (e.g., via 'version' or 'unisphere' command, or check the system info page in Unisphere)Affected if The product is Dell Unity, UnityVSA, or Unity XT and the version is lower than 5.2.0.0.5.173
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Determine if off-array tools have been executed on the systemReview system logs (typically found in /var/log or accessible via the service provider interface) for execution events of off-array tools such as DART, NAS Server, or Data Reduction Pool toolsAffected if Off-array tools have been run on the system, as these operations trigger the plaintext credential storage
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Search for credential files in system directoriesInspect common configuration and log directories (e.g., /opt/storage, /config, or vendor-specific service directories) for files containing plaintext user passwords or credential stringsAffected if Any files are found containing plaintext passwords for privileged users (such as admin, service, or root accounts)
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Verify the credential storage mechanismExamine how the system stores user credentials for off-array tool execution by reviewing configuration files or database entries used by the affected toolsAffected if Credentials are stored in plaintext rather than being hashed or encrypted
The environment is affected if the installed Dell Unity, UnityVSA, or Unity XT version is below 5.2.0.0.5.173 and off-array tools have been executed on the system, potentially exposing privileged user credentials in plaintext files.
Generated from the published advisory. Verify against your own configuration.
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 · scoped5.2.0.0.5.173
Upgrade Dell Unity, UnityVSA, and Unity XT to version 5.2.0.0.5.173 or later to resolve the plain-text password storage vulnerability.
5.2.0.0.5.173
- Identify the current version of Dell Unity, UnityVSA, or Unity XT installed in the environment
- Plan and schedule an upgrade maintenance window following Dell's standard upgrade procedures
- Upgrade the affected system to version 5.2.0.0.5.173 or later
- After upgrade, verify the system version reflects 5.2.0.0.5.173 or higher
- Confirm the vulnerability is resolved by testing that credentials are no longer stored in plain text when off-array tools are run
Generated from the published advisory — verify against the referenced sources before acting.
- Consultation3.0 h
- Implementation6.0 h
- Testing3.0 h
- Review / QA2.0 h
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Scan for this in your stack
Free · runs locallyCheck whether your project pulls in CVE-2022-29085 — or any other known-vulnerable package — straight from your lock files. Free and open source; it runs locally and uploads nothing.
References Go to the primary sourcePrimary sources — vendor advisories, patches and trackers. Where our summary and a reference disagree, the reference wins.
Primary sourcesPractitioner notes
ContributedPeer-ranked notes from engineers who’ve handled CVE-2022-29085 in production — separate from our analysis above.
The advisory tells you what broke. It rarely tells you what actually worked. If you’ve dealt with this one, that detail is what the next engineer is searching for.
- The version that genuinely resolved it — not the one the vendor claimed
- A config change or rule that shut the vector down
- A gotcha in the upgrade path that cost you an afternoon
No notes yet
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- 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