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KafkaApplication · Apache

CVE-2022-34917

HIGH · 7.5 CVSS v3.1 Published 2022-09-20
Fix available
A fix is available. Upgrade to 2.8.2 / 3.0.2 or later.
See remediation →
84/100
Remediation priority · High
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
A security vulnerability has been identified in Apache Kafka. It affects all releases since 2.8.0. The vulnerability allows malicious unauthenticated clients to allocate large amounts of memory on brokers. This can lead to brokers hitting OutOfMemoryException and causing denial of service. Example scenarios: - Kafka cluster without authentication: Any clients able to establish a network connection to a broker can trigger the issue. - Kafka cluster with SASL authentication: Any clients able to establish a network connection to a broker, without the need for valid SASL credentials, can trigger the issue. - Kafka cluster with TLS authentication: Only clients able to successfully authenticate via TLS can trigger the issue. We advise the users to upgrade the Kafka installations to one of the 3.2.3, 3.1.2, 3.0.2, 2.8.2 versions.

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

Apache Kafka versions 2.8.0+ contain a memory allocation vulnerability where unauthenticated clients can cause brokers to allocate excessive memory, leading to OutOfMemoryException and denial of service. The attack is exploitable without authentication in non-TLS environments and without valid SASL credentials in SASL-authenticated clusters.

MitigationUpgrade Kafka to version 3.2.3, 3.1.2, 3.0.2, or 2.8.2 to patch the vulnerability. In the meantime, consider network segmentation to limit broker access to trusted clients only.

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
KafkaApplication
Affected:>= 2.8.0, < 2.8.2>= 3.0.0, < 3.0.2>= 3.1.0, < 3.1.2>= 3.2.0, < 3.2.3

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
None
Integrity
None
Availability
High

CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:L/PR:N/UI:N/S:U/C:N/I:N/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 installed Kafka version
    Run `kafka-topics.sh --version` or `kafka-broker-api-versions.sh` on the broker, or check the kafka_2.13-<version>.jar file in the installation directory
    Affected if The version is 2.8.0 to 2.8.1, 3.0.0 to 3.0.1, 3.1.0 to 3.1.1, or 3.2.0 to 3.2.2 (within any of the affected ranges)
  2. Verify TLS listener configuration
    Inspect the broker config file (server.properties or similar) and look for `listeners` or `advertised.listeners` with a `SSL` or `SASL_SSL` prefix. Also check for `ssl.enabled=true`
    Affected if No TLS/SSL is configured on any listener (no SSL or SAS_SSL prefix in listener security protocol)
  3. Confirm SASL authentication is enforced
    Check broker properties for `security.inter.broker.protocol` set to SASL_PLAINTEXT or SASL_SSL, and verify `sasl.mechanism.inter.broker.protocol` is configured. Also ensure `allow.everyone.if.no.acl.found=false` if using ACLs
    Affected if SASL authentication is not configured, not enforced for inter-broker communication, or is set to allow unauthenticated clients
  4. Assess broker network exposure
    Review `listeners` configuration to determine which network interfaces and IP addresses the broker binds to. Check if the port is accessible from untrusted networks
    Affected if The broker listener is bound to a public or untrusted network interface without firewall protection

The environment is affected if the Kafka version falls within the vulnerable ranges AND the broker either lacks TLS encryption or does not enforce SASL authentication for client connections.

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 2.8.2 / 3.0.2 / 3.1.2 or later
Fixed in 2.8.23.0.23.1.2
Interim mitigation

Upgrade Kafka to version 3.2.3, 3.1.2, 3.0.2, or 2.8.2 to patch the vulnerability. In the meantime, consider network segmentation to limit broker access to trusted clients only.

Recommended fix High confidence

3.2.3 (for 3.2.x), 3.1.2 (for 3.1.x), 3.0.2 (for 3.0.x), or 2.8.2 (for 2.8.x)

  1. 1. Identify the current Kafka version running in your environment using `kafka-topics.sh --version` or checking your deployment configuration.
  2. 2. Determine which release branch you are on (2.8.x, 3.0.x, 3.1.x, or 3.2.x) to select the appropriate upgrade target.
  3. 3. Plan the upgrade: review Kafka upgrade notes at kafka.apache.org/documentation/#upgrade for your specific version path.
  4. 4. Test the upgrade in a non-production environment first to verify compatibility with your applications and scripts.
  5. 5. Perform the upgrade during a planned maintenance window following your organization's change control process.
  6. 6. After upgrade, verify the Kafka broker version using `kafka-topics.sh --version` and ensure all brokers are running the patched version.
  7. 7. Monitor broker memory usage to confirm the vulnerability is remediated.

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

Fix this in Kafka Scoped from the published advisory
  • Consultation3.0 h
  • Implementation6.0 h
  • Testing3.0 h
  • Review / QA2.0 h
14.0 hours of engineering $2,490
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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-2022-34917 in production — separate from our analysis above.

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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
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