CVE-2022-33169
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 · uneditedIBM Robotic Process Automation 21.0.0, 21.0.1, and 21.0.2 is vulnerable to insufficiently protected credentials for users created via a bulk upload. IBM X-Force ID: 228888.
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 · moderate confidenceIBM Robotic Process Automation versions 21.0.0 through 21.0.2 contains a vulnerability where credentials for users created via the bulk upload feature are insufficiently protected. This could allow an authenticated attacker with access to the user data storage to obtain weakly protected credentials.
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>= 21.0.0, <= 21.0.3CVSS 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
- Low
- User interaction
- None
- Scope
- Unchanged
- Confidentiality
- High
- Integrity
- None
- Availability
- None
CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:L/PR:L/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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Verify IBM Robotic Process Automation versionCheck the installed IBM RPA version through the product's about or version information panel in the admin console, or query the product's installation directory for version metadataAffected if Version is 21.0.0, 21.0.1, 21.0.2, or 21.0.3
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Identify bulk upload user accountsReview user management logs or audit records to determine if any users were created using the bulk upload feature rather than individual enrollmentAffected if Users exist that were created through the bulk upload functionality
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Examine user credential storage access controlsInspect file system permissions and access controls on the database or directory where user credential data is stored. Verify which accounts have read access to credential storageAffected if Multiple authenticated accounts beyond administrative service accounts can access the user credential data store
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Assess bulk upload feature exposureDetermine if the bulk upload feature is accessible to non-administrative users or if it has been used in a way that exposed the user data storage to additional authenticated attackersAffected if Bulk upload functionality or its resulting credential data is accessible to attackers beyond the intended administrative scope
You are affected if IBM RPA versions 21.0.0 through 21.0.3 are installed AND users were created via the bulk upload feature, with credentials stored in an area accessible to authenticated attackers.
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 dataApply available IBM patches for this vulnerability. Until patched, restrict administrative access to the bulk upload functionality and monitor for unauthorized access to user credential data.
- Consultation3.0 h
- Implementation6.0 h
- Testing3.0 h
- Review / QA2.0 h
An estimate, not a bill — we confirm scope with you before any work starts. Need it this week? Rush from $3,984.
Scan for this in your stack
Free · runs locallyCheck whether your project pulls in CVE-2022-33169 — 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-2022-33169 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