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SplunkApplication

CVE-2022-32158

CRITICAL · 10.0 CVSS v3.1 Published 2022-06-15
Fix available
A fix is available. Upgrade to 9.0 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
Splunk Enterprise deployment servers in versions before 8.1.10.1, 8.2.6.1, and 9.0 let clients deploy forwarder bundles to other deployment clients through the deployment server. An attacker that compromised a Universal Forwarder endpoint could use the vulnerability to execute arbitrary code on all other Universal Forwarder endpoints subscribed to the deployment server.

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

Splunk Enterprise deployment servers before versions 8.1.10.1, 8.2.6.1, and 9.0 lack proper authorization controls, allowing a compromised Universal Forwarder to act as a malicious deployment client and push malicious forwarder bundles to other Universal Forwarder endpoints through the deployment server, achieving arbitrary code execution across all subscribed clients.

MitigationUpgrade Splunk Enterprise deployment servers to versions 8.1.10.1, 8.2.6.1, or 9.0 or later to remediate the vulnerability, and audit deployment server configurations and client subscriptions for indicators of compromise.

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
SplunkApplication
Affected:< 9.0

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 Splunk product type and version
    Run 'splunk --version' from the Splunk bin directory, or check the $SPLUNK_HOME/etc/splunk.version file for the product name and version number
    Affected if The product is Splunk Enterprise and the version is below 8.1.10.1, below 8.2.6.1, or below 9.0
  2. Confirm deployment server is enabled
    Check the deployment server configuration by running 'splunk show servername' to identify the server, then examine $SPLUNK_HOME/etc/system/local/server.conf for the '[deploymentServer]' stanza, or use the Splunk Web UI under Settings > Server > Deployment Server to verify it is active
    Affected if The deployment server feature is enabled and serving Universal Forwarder clients
  3. Identify subscribed deployment clients
    Run the Splunk CLI command 'splunk list deploy-clients' to enumerate all Universal Forwarders registered to this deployment server, or query the _internal index for sourcetype=*deployment* to review client registration activity
    Affected if There are Universal Forwarder clients subscribed to this deployment server (the vulnerability allows a compromised client to push bundles to other clients)
  4. Review recent deployment server activity
    Search the _internal index for events with sourcetype=splunkd related to deployment server bundle distribution: index=_internal sourcetype=splunkd component=DeployedApplication action=* | stats count by src_host, action
    Affected if There are unusual or unexpected bundle deployment actions, or bundle files were pushed to clients that you do not recognize

You are affected if this system runs Splunk Enterprise as an active deployment server with version below 8.1.10.1, 8.2.6.1, or 9.0, and has Universal Forwarder clients subscribed.

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 9.0 or later
Fixed in 9.0
Interim mitigation

Upgrade Splunk Enterprise deployment servers to versions 8.1.10.1, 8.2.6.1, or 9.0 or later to remediate the vulnerability, and audit deployment server configurations and client subscriptions for indicators of compromise.

Recommended fix High confidence

8.1.10.1, 8.2.6.1, or 9.0 (or later)

  1. Identify current Splunk Enterprise version by checking $SPLUNK_HOME/etc/splunk.version
  2. Review Splunk upgrade documentation and ensure backup of configuration files ($SPLUNK_HOME/etc/) is performed
  3. Download the appropriate fixed version from splunk.com: 8.1.10.1, 8.2.6.1, or 9.0 (or later)
  4. Stop Splunk services on the deployment server: $SPLUNK_HOME/bin/splunk stop
  5. Install the upgrade following standard Splunk upgrade procedures
  6. Restart Splunk services: $SPLUNK_HOME/bin/splunk start
  7. Verify the deployment server is functioning correctly and clients can connect
  8. Review deployment server configuration to ensure only trusted forwarders are allowed to subscribe
Caveat Standard Splunk upgrade considerations apply - review release notes for backward compatibility of custom apps and configurations

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

Fix this in Splunk Scoped from the published advisory
  • Consultation6.0 h
  • Implementation12.0 h
  • Testing8.0 h
  • Review / QA4.0 h
30.0 hours of engineering $5,280
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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-2022-32158 in production — separate from our analysis above.

No notes yet

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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