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NvflareApplication · Nvidia

CVE-2022-31604

CRITICAL · 9.8 CVSS v3.1 Published 2022-07-01
Fix available
A fix is available. Upgrade to 2.1.2 or later.
See remediation →
100/100
Remediation priority · Urgent
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
NVFLARE, versions prior to 2.1.2, contains a vulnerability in its PKI implementation module, where The CA credentials are transported via pickle and no safe deserialization. The deserialization of Untrusted Data may allow an unprivileged network attacker to cause Remote Code Execution, Denial Of Service, and Impact to both Confidentiality and Integrity.

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

NVFLARE versions prior to 2.1.2 have a critical vulnerability in the PKI module where CA credentials are transported using Python's pickle serialization without safe deserialization. This unsafe unpickling of untrusted network data allows an unprivileged attacker to achieve remote code execution, denial of service, and compromise confidentiality and integrity.

MitigationUpgrade to NVFLARE version 2.1.2 or later which implements safe deserialization for PKI credentials. If immediate upgrade is not possible, implement network segmentation and authentication around PKI operations to limit exposure to untrusted data.

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
NvflareApplication
Affected:< 2.1.2

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
High
Integrity
High
Availability
High

CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:L/PR:N/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. Identify NVFLARE installation
    Run 'pip show nvflare' or check your package manager to find the installed version of NVFLARE
    Affected if The installed version is lower than 2.1.2 (e.g., 2.1.1, 2.0.x, 1.x)
  2. Locate NVFLARE installation directory
    Find the NVFLARE installation path - typically in site-packages under your Python environment
    Affected if You cannot determine the version because the package is not properly installed or registered
  3. Identify PKI module usage
    Check if your NVFLARE deployment uses the PKI (Public Key Infrastructure) module for certificate handling - look for pki-related configuration files, scripts, or modules in your NVFLARE setup
    Affected if PKI module is actively used or configured in your environment
  4. Inspect PKI credential handling
    Review code or configuration that handles CA credentials - look for pickle serialization usage in PKI-related scripts or modules
    Affected if Credentials are processed using pickle deserialization without validation
  5. Assess network exposure
    Determine if PKI operations are exposed to untrusted network data or if they accept connections from non-local sources
    Affected if PKI module accepts network connections from untrusted sources or processes untrusted data

You are affected if NVFLARE version is below 2.1.2 AND the PKI module is in use AND processes untrusted network data with pickle 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 2.1.2 or later
Fixed in 2.1.2
Interim mitigation

Upgrade to NVFLARE version 2.1.2 or later which implements safe deserialization for PKI credentials. If immediate upgrade is not possible, implement network segmentation and authentication around PKI operations to limit exposure to untrusted data.

Recommended fix High confidence

2.1.2

  1. Upgrade NVFLARE to version 2.1.2 or later
  2. After upgrading, verify that the PKI implementation module no longer uses pickle for CA credential transport

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

Fix this in Nvflare Scoped from the published advisory
  • Consultation4.0 h
  • Implementation8.0 h
  • Testing6.0 h
  • Review / QA4.0 h
22.0 hours of engineering $3,860
Get the upgrade done

An estimate, not a bill — we confirm scope with you before any work starts. Need it this week? Rush from $6,176.

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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-2022-31604 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
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  • Version or environment caveats, and links to real fixes
  • No weaponised exploit code, or anything meant to cause harm
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