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CheckmkApplication

CVE-2022-43440

HIGH · 7.8 CVSS v3.1 Published 2023-02-09
Fix available
A fix is available. Upgrade to 1.6.0 or later.
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
Uncontrolled Search Path Element in Checkmk Agent in Tribe29 Checkmk before 2.1.0p1, before 2.0.0p25 and before 1.6.0p29 on a Checkmk server allows the site user to escalate privileges via a manipulated unixcat executable

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 Checkmk Agent suffers from an uncontrolled search path element vulnerability where it uses an insecure search path to locate the 'unixcat' executable. A local site user can place a malicious 'unixcat' binary in a directory that gets searched before the legitimate location, allowing privilege escalation to higher privileges on the Checkmk server.

MitigationUpgrade Checkmk to version 2.1.0p1, 2.0.0p25, or 1.6.0p29 or later. Alternatively, ensure only trusted binaries exist in directories within the agent's search path and restrict filesystem permissions to prevent unauthorized placement of executables.

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
CheckmkApplication
Affected:< 1.6.0= 1.6.0= 2.0.0= 2.1.0

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. Identify installed Checkmk agent version
    Run 'cmk --version' or check the agent package installed on the system (e.g., 'rpm -q cmk-agent' or 'dpkg -l check-mk-agent')
    Affected if The installed version is 1.6.0, 2.0.0, 2.1.0, or any version below 1.6.0
  2. Locate the unixcat binary used by the agent
    Examine the Checkmk agent configuration or wrapper scripts to determine which PATH is used when searching for the unixcat executable, and run 'which unixcat' or 'type unixcat' as the site user to see which binary is resolved
    Affected if The agent resolves unixcat from a directory that is writable by untrusted users before the legitimate installation directory
  3. Inspect the agent's execution PATH for untrusted directories
    Review the PATH environment variable used by the Checkmk agent daemon or cron job, and check directory permissions with 'ls -la' on each PATH component to identify any world-writable or group-writable directories
    Affected if Any directory in the agent's search path (before the legitimate unixcat location) is writable by the local site user or other untrusted accounts
  4. Verify if a malicious unixcat could be injected
    As the local site user, check if they can create files in directories that appear earlier in the PATH than the legitimate Checkmk binary directory
    Affected if The local site user has write access to a directory that appears before the legitimate unixcat location in the agent's search path

You are affected if your Checkmk agent version is 1.6.0, 2.0.0, 2.1.0, or below 1.6.0 AND untrusted users can place executables in directories that are searched before the legitimate unixcat location.

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 1.6.0 or later
Fixed in 1.6.0
Interim mitigation

Upgrade Checkmk to version 2.1.0p1, 2.0.0p25, or 1.6.0p29 or later. Alternatively, ensure only trusted binaries exist in directories within the agent's search path and restrict filesystem permissions to prevent unauthorized placement of executables.

Recommended fix High confidence

Upgrade to 1.6.0p29 (or 2.0.0p25 / 2.1.0p1) depending on your current major version branch

  1. Identify current Checkmk version by checking the site version (omd version <site_name>)
  2. Based on the current version, upgrade to the corresponding fixed patch version:
  3. - If using 1.6.0 series: upgrade to 1.6.0p29 or later
  4. - If using 2.0.0 series: upgrade to 2.0.0p25 or later
  5. - If using 2.1.0 series: upgrade to 2.1.0p1 or later
  6. Use 'omd update' command or the Checkmk web interface to perform the upgrade
  7. After upgrade, verify the unixcat binary permissions and ensure no manipulated versions exist in the site directory
  8. Restart Checkmk services if required after the update
Caveat Standard upgrade precautions apply - test in staging environment first, backup configuration before upgrading

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

Fix this in Checkmk 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
Get the upgrade done

An estimate, not a bill — we confirm scope with you before any work starts. Need it this week? Rush from $1,984.

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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-2022-43440 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
  • No spam, self-promotion, credentials, or personal data