Openstack PlatformApplication · Redhat
CVE-2022-3261
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 · uneditedA flaw was found in OpenStack. Multiple components show plain-text passwords in /var/log/messages during the OpenStack overcloud update run, leading to a disclosure of sensitive information problem.
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 confidenceIn OpenStack, multiple components write plain-text passwords to /var/log/messages during overcloud update operations, exposing sensitive credentials in system logs. This occurs because password masking is not properly implemented in the logging paths of affected components.
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
Openstack PlatformApplication
= 16.2CVSS 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
- None
- Availability
- None
CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:L/PR:N/UI:N/S:U/C:H/I:N/A:N
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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Confirm OpenStack Platform versionRun 'openstack version show' or check the Red Hat OpenStack Platform release version. Compare against 16.2.Affected if Version is exactly 16.2
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Locate overcloud update log entriesSearch /var/log/messages for timestamps and entries corresponding to overcloud update operations. Look for patterns like 'openstack overcloud update' or 'tripleo' in the logs.Affected if Overcloud update operations have been performed on this environment
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Search for plain-text password patterns in logsGrep through /var/log/messages for patterns that resemble passwords: look for strings containing 'password=', 'passwd=', or credential assignments near overcloud update timestamps. Use: grep -i 'password' /var/log/messages | grep -i 'overcloud\|tripleo'Affected if Plain-text passwords appear in the log output near overcloud update entries
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Identify exposed credential typesExamine any found password strings to determine if they correspond to service credentials, Keystone tokens, or other authentication secrets used during overcloud operations.Affected if The log contains actual credential values (not masked or redacted strings)
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Check log retention for historical exposureReview any archived or backed-up versions of /var/log/messages* files that may contain credentials from past overcloud updates.Affected if Archived logs from previous overcloud updates contain exposed passwords
Environment is affected if Red Hat OpenStack Platform 16.2 has performed overcloud update operations and /var/log/messages contains plain-text passwords from those operations.
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.
From vendor dataConfigure logging to mask or redact passwords before they are written to log files, and rotate/clean existing logs that may contain exposed credentials. Review all components involved in overcloud updates for proper secret handling.
Fix this in Openstack Platform
Scoped from the published advisory
- Consultation8.0 h
- Implementation24.0 h
- Testing12.0 h
- Review / QA8.0 h
An estimate, not a bill — we confirm scope with you before any work starts. Need it this week? Rush from $14,656.
Scan for this in your stack
Free · runs locallyCheck whether your project pulls in CVE-2022-3261 — 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-2022-3261 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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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.
- 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