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Device Mapper MultipathApplication · Redhat

CVE-2022-3787

HIGH · 7.8 CVSS v3.1 Published 2023-03-29
Mitigation only
No fix yet — a mitigation exists. There is no fixed release. A documented workaround reduces exposure in the meantime.
See remediation →
80/100
Remediation priority · High
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 vulnerability was found in the device-mapper-multipath. The device-mapper-multipath allows local users to obtain root access, exploited alone or in conjunction with CVE-2022-41973. Local users that are able to write to UNIX domain sockets can bypass access controls and manipulate the multipath setup. This issue occurs because an attacker can repeat a keyword, which is mishandled when arithmetic ADD is used instead of bitwise OR. This could lead to local privilege escalation to root.

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

A vulnerability in device-mapper-multipath allows local users with access to UNIX domain sockets to bypass access controls and escalate privileges to root. The root cause is a logic error where arithmetic ADD is incorrectly replaces bitwise OR when processing repeated keywords in the multipath configuration, leading to improper access control validation.

MitigationApply available patches for device-mapper-multipath immediately. Additionally, restrict access to UNIX domain sockets used by multipath and audit local user permissions to limit exposure.

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
Device Mapper MultipathApplication
Affected:all versions
Enterprise LinuxOperating system
Affected:= 8.7= 9.1

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

CVSS:3.1/AV:L/AC:L/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. Verify multipath package installation
    Run 'rpm -q device-mapper-multipath' or 'dpkg -l | grep multipath' to check if the device-mapper-multipath package is installed on the system
    Affected if The package is installed - all versions of Red Hat Device Mapper Multipath are affected per the CVE advisory
  2. Confirm multipath service daemon is running
    Run 'systemctl status multipathd' or 'ps aux | grep multipathd' to check if the multipathd daemon process is active
    Affected if The service is running - the vulnerability requires access to UNIX domain sockets used by the multipath daemon
  3. Check ownership and permissions on multipath UNIX domain sockets
    Examine socket files in /var/run/ (typically /var/run/multipathd.sock or similar) using 'ls -la' to identify who can access them
    Affected if Non-privileged users have read or write access to multipath sockets - this is the attack vector for privilege escalation
  4. Audit local user accounts with access to the system
    Review /etc/passwd and check for untrusted local users using 'who' and 'last' commands to identify potential attackers
    Affected if Untrusted or unauthorized local users exist on the system who could leverage the socket access vulnerability
  5. Review multipath configuration for repeated keywords
    Examine /etc/multipath.conf and any included configuration files for duplicate entries in the 'multipaths' or 'devices' sections that could trigger the logic error
    Affected if The configuration contains repeated keywords that could trigger the ADD vs bitwise OR processing flaw (note: this is the root cause but exploitation requires socket access)

The environment is affected if device-mapper-multipath is installed and running with accessible UNIX domain sockets, allowing local users to potentially escalate privileges.

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
Mitigation available No clean upgrade yet — mitigate in the meantime
Mitigation

Apply available patches for device-mapper-multipath immediately. Additionally, restrict access to UNIX domain sockets used by multipath and audit local user permissions to limit exposure.

Recommended fix Moderate confidence

device-mapper-multipath package update via Red Hat Enterprise Linux update channels (RHEL 8.7+ and 9.1+ receive updates containing the fix)

  1. Check the currently installed multipath version: rpm -q device-mapper-multipath
  2. Check for available updates: dnf check-update device-mapper-multipath (RHEL 8/9) or yum check-update device-mapper-multipath
  3. Apply the security update: dnf update device-mapper-multipath or yum update device-mapper-multipath
  4. Verify the fix was applied: rpm -q device-mapper-multipath and check that the version is newer than the vulnerable version
  5. Restart multipathd service if required: systemctl restart multipathd
Caveat Standard package update - minimal risk; ensure multipath configuration is backed up before updates in production environments

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

Fix this in Device Mapper Multipath Scoped from the published advisory
  • Consultation2.0 h
  • Implementation2.0 h
  • Testing2.0 h
  • Review / QA1.0 h
7.0 hours of engineering $1,240
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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-2022-3787 in production — separate from our analysis above.

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What this is

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  • Version or environment caveats, and links to real fixes
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