Ca Automic AutomationApplication · Broadcom

CVE-2022-33754

CRITICAL · 9.8 CVSS v3.1 Published 2022-06-16
Mitigation only
No fix yet — a mitigation exists. There is no fixed release. A documented workaround reduces exposure in the meantime.
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
CA Automic Automation 12.2 and 12.3 contain an insufficient input validation vulnerability in the Automic agent that could allow a remote attacker to potentially execute arbitrary code.

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 confidence

CA Automic Automation 12.2 and 12.3 contain an insufficient input validation vulnerability in the Automic agent component. This allows remote attackers to potentially execute arbitrary code by sending specially crafted input to the agent, likely through exposed network communication channels.

MitigationUpgrade to a patched version of Automic Automation (contact Broadcom/VMware for the fixed release). If immediate patching is not possible, restrict network access to agent ports and implement additional input sanitization at network boundaries.

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
Ca Automic AutomationApplication
Affected:= 12.2= 12.3

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 if Automic Automation is installed
    Check for the Automic installation directory (typically under /opt/automic or C:\Program Files\Automic) and locate the version file or use command: java -jar <<path to>>automic.jar -version 2>&1 or check the version.xml in the installation directory
    Affected if Automic Automation version is 12.2 or 12.3 exactly
  2. Confirm the agent component is present
    Locate the agent binary or service: on Unix check for processes like 'awc' or 'agent' under the Automic directory structure (typically <install_dir>/agents/), on Windows check Services for Automic Agent services
    Affected if The Automic agent component is installed and running on the system
  3. Check if agent network listeners are active
    Run netstat or ss command to list listening ports - typical agent ports include 8877, 8878, or custom ports configured during agent setup. Look for LISTEN state connections on these ports
    Affected if Agent is listening on network-accessible ports (not bound to localhost only)
  4. Verify network exposure of agent ports
    Review firewall rules and network configuration to determine if agent ports are accessible from outside the local host. Use nmap or similar: nmap -p <agent_port> <localhost> or check if the agent binds to 0.0.0.0 vs 127.0.0.1
    Affected if Agent ports are reachable from network segments other than localhost

You are affected if Automic Automation version 12.2 or 12.3 is installed and the agent component is running and exposed on network-accessible ports.

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.

From vendor data
Mitigation available No clean upgrade yet — mitigate in the meantime
Mitigation

Upgrade to a patched version of Automic Automation (contact Broadcom/VMware for the fixed release). If immediate patching is not possible, restrict network access to agent ports and implement additional input sanitization at network boundaries.

Fix this in Ca Automic Automation Scoped from the published advisory
  • Consultation8.0 h
  • Implementation12.0 h
  • Testing8.0 h
  • Review / QA4.0 h
32.0 hours of engineering $5,680
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Scan for this in your stack

Free · runs locally
dbcve dependency scanner

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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-2022-33754 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
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