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HotpatchApplication · Amazon

CVE-2022-33915

HIGH · 7.0 CVSS v3.1 Published 2022-06-17
Fix available
A fix is available. Upgrade to 1.3.5 or later.
See remediation →
72/100
Remediation priority · Elevated
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
Versions of the Amazon AWS Apache Log4j hotpatch package before log4j-cve-2021-44228-hotpatch-1.3.5 are affected by a race condition that could lead to a local privilege escalation. This Hotpatch package is not a replacement for updating to a log4j version that mitigates CVE-2021-44228 or CVE-2021-45046; it provides a temporary mitigation to CVE-2021-44228 by hotpatching the local Java virtual machines. To do so, it iterates through all running Java processes, performs several checks, and executes the Java virtual machine with the same permissions and capabilities as the running process to load the hotpatch. A local user could cause the hotpatch script to execute a binary with elevated privileges by running a custom java process that performs exec() of an SUID binary after the hotpatch has observed the process path and before it has observed its effective user ID.

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

The Amazon AWS Log4j hotpatch package has a race condition vulnerability that allows local privilege escalation. When the hotpatch iterates through Java processes to inject the mitigation, a local attacker can exploit the time window between process path observation and effective user ID verification by running a custom java process that executes a SUID binary, causing the hotpatch to execute it with elevated privileges.

MitigationReplace the hotpatch with the official log4j fixes by updating to a log4j version that mitigates CVE-2021-44228 or CVE-2021-45046, then remove the hotpatch package (log4j-cve-2021-44228-hotpatch) from all systems.

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
HotpatchApplication
Affected:< 1.3.5

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
Local
Complexity
High
Privileges
Low
User interaction
None
Scope
Unchanged
Confidentiality
High
Integrity
High
Availability
High

CVSS:3.1/AV:L/AC:H/PR:L/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. Check if the hotpatch package is installed
    On RPM-based systems: rpm -qa | grep -i hotpatch. On Debian-based systems: dpkg -l | grep -i hotpatch
    Affected if Package named log4j-cve-2021-44228-hotpatch or similar hotpatch package is installed
  2. Identify the installed hotpatch version
    On RPM-based systems: rpm -q log4j-cve-2021-44228-hotpatch. On Debian-based systems: dpkg -s log4j-cve-2021-44228-hotpatch. Look for the Version field in the output
    Affected if Version displayed is lower than 1.3.5 or the version cannot be determined (package may be too old)
  3. Check if hotpatch service or daemon is running
    Run: ps aux | grep -i hotpatch or systemctl list-units --type=service | grep -i hotpatch
    Affected if Any hotpatch-related process or service is actively running
  4. Verify hotpatch execution history
    Review system logs (such as /var/log/syslog, /var/log/messages, or journalctl) for entries containing 'hotpatch' or 'log4j-cve' to determine if the hotpatch has been executed on the system
    Affected if Hotpatch has been executed on the system at any point

User is affected if the Amazon hotpatch package (log4j-cve-2021-44228-hotpatch) is installed with a version below 1.3.5, regardless of whether the service is currently running.

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 1.3.5 or later
Fixed in 1.3.5
Interim mitigation

Replace the hotpatch with the official log4j fixes by updating to a log4j version that mitigates CVE-2021-44228 or CVE-2021-45046, then remove the hotpatch package (log4j-cve-2021-44228-hotpatch) from all systems.

Recommended fix High confidence

log4j-cve-2021-44228-hotpatch-1.3.5

  1. Update the Amazon AWS Log4j hotpatch package to version 1.3.5 or later using your system's package manager
  2. On Amazon Linux systems, run: sudo yum update log4j-cve-2021-44228-hotpatch or sudo dnf update log4j-cve-2021-44228-hotpatch
  3. Verify the installed version matches or exceeds 1.3.5 by running: rpm -qa | grep log4j-cve-2021-44228-hotpatch
  4. Ensure the underlying Log4j installation is also updated to a version that mitigates CVE-2021-44228 or CVE-2021-45046, as this hotpatch is only a temporary mitigation
Caveat This hotpatch is not a replacement for updating to a fixed Log4j version; it only provides temporary mitigation for CVE-2021-44228

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

Fix this in Hotpatch Scoped from the published advisory
  • Consultation4.0 h
  • Implementation8.0 h
  • Testing4.0 h
  • Review / QA2.0 h
18.0 hours of engineering $3,200
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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-2022-33915 in production — separate from our analysis above.

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What this is

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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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