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App Connect Enterprise Certified ContainerApplication · Ibm

CVE-2022-43915

HIGH · 8.1 CVSS v3.1 Published 2024-08-24
Mitigation only
No fix yet — a mitigation exists. There is no fixed release. A documented workaround reduces exposure in the meantime.
See remediation →
87/100
Remediation priority · High
Remotely reachable 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
IBM App Connect Enterprise Certified Container 5.0, 7.1, 7.2, 8.0, 8.1, 8.2, 9.0, 9.1, 9.2, 10.0, 10.1, 11.0, 11.1, 11.2, 11.3, 11.4, 11.5, 11.6, 12.0, and 12.1 does not limit calls to unshare in running Pods. This can allow a user with privileged access to execute commands in a running Pod to elevate their user privileges.

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

IBM App Connect Enterprise Certified Container does not restrict the unshare system call in running pods. This allows a user with privileged access (such as the ability to exec into pods) to execute the unshare syscall, potentially escaping container isolation and escalating privileges to host-level access.

MitigationRestrict exec/attach access to pods via RBAC, implement Pod Security Admission (PSA) or Pod Security Policies (PSP) to block privileged containers and unshare syscalls, and apply least-privilege principles to service accounts.

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
App Connect Enterprise Certified ContainerApplication
Affected:= 5.0= 7.1= 7.2= 8.0= 8.1= 8.2= 9.0= 9.1= 9.2= 10.0= 10.1= 11.0

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

CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:L/PR:L/UI:N/S:U/C:H/I:H/A:N

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 IBM App Connect Enterprise deployment
    List all pods in the cluster and inspect their container images. For each namespace, run 'kubectl get pods -o json' and look for images containing 'appconnect' or 'ibm-app-connect' in the image field. Also check for installed Helm releases with 'helm list --all' and deployed Custom Resources for the App Connect Operator.
    Affected if Pods running IBM App Connect Enterprise Certified Container images are found in the cluster
  2. Verify installed App Connect version
    For each identified pod, run 'kubectl get pod <podname> -o jsonpath={.spec.containers[*].image}' to get the exact image tag. Compare the version number in the tag against: 5.0, 7.1, 7.2, 8.0, 8.1, 8.2, 9.0, 9.1, 9.2, 10.0, 10.1, or 11.0.
    Affected if The deployed image version matches one of the listed affected versions
  3. Check RBAC permissions for pod exec/attach
    Run 'kubectl auth can-i exec <pod> -n <namespace>' from different service account contexts, or review ClusterRoleBindings and RoleBindings with 'kubectl get clusterrolebindings -o wide' and check for verbs 'exec' and 'attach' on resources 'pods' or 'pods/exec'.
    Affected if Any user or service account besides cluster-admin has exec or attach permissions to App Connect pods
  4. Verify syscall restrictions are not blocked
    Check if PodSecurityPolicy (if used) includes 'unshare' in restricted syscalls, or if Pod Security Admission labels are set to 'restricted' in the namespace: 'kubectl get ns <namespace> -o jsonpath={.metadata.labels}' and look for 'pod-security.kubernetes.io/enforce=restricted'.
    Affected if No syscall restriction mechanism blocks unshare and the namespace does not enforce restricted pod security
  5. Confirm seccomp/AppArmor profile absence
    Inspect pod specs with 'kubectl get pod <podname> -o json' and check for 'securityContext.seccompProfile' or 'securityContext.apparmorProfile' fields in container specs. Also check if a ValidatingWebhookConfiguration blocks pods without seccomp profiles.
    Affected if Containers run without seccomp or AppArmor profiles that would block the unshare syscall

You are affected if IBM App Connect Enterprise Certified Container versions 5.0 through 11.0 are deployed AND users have exec/attach access to pods AND no syscall restrictions (seccomp, PSA restricted, or PSP) are configured to block unshare.

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

Restrict exec/attach access to pods via RBAC, implement Pod Security Admission (PSA) or Pod Security Policies (PSP) to block privileged containers and unshare syscalls, and apply least-privilege principles to service accounts.

Recommended fix Moderate confidence

IBM App Connect Enterprise Certified Container version 12.1 or later (latest stable release)

  1. Check the IBM App Connect Enterprise Certified Container release notes or IBM Fix Central for security patches addressing CVE-2022-43915
  2. Upgrade to the latest available version of IBM App Connect Enterprise Certified Container (12.1 or later) which contains the fix for this vulnerability
  3. If immediate upgrade is not possible, implement Kubernetes Pod Security Standards (PSS) or Pod Security Policies (PSP) to restrict privileged container access
  4. Configure the pod security policy to deny containers from running as privileged or using hostPID, hostIPC, or hostNetwork options
  5. Limit which users can execute commands in running pods using RBAC (Role-Based Access Control)
  6. Audit and restrict access to the 'exec' verb on pods in Kubernetes RBAC policies
  7. Ensure that unshare syscall is blocked by applying appropriate seccomp profiles or AppArmor/SELinux policies to containers
Caveat Review IBM App Connect Enterprise migration guides for any compatibility considerations when upgrading between major versions; test thoroughly in non-production environment first

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

Fix this in App Connect Enterprise Certified Container Scoped from the published advisory
  • Consultation6.0 h
  • Implementation12.0 h
  • Testing6.0 h
  • Review / QA3.0 h
27.0 hours of engineering $4,800
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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-2022-43915 in production — separate from our analysis above.

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What this is

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What belongs here
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  • Version or environment caveats, and links to real fixes
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