CVE-2022-31044: Plaintext Storage of Keys and Passwords in Rundeck and PagerDuty Process Automation
Noroxi assessment
Priority: Monitor (action score 30/100)
- The sources we track (CISA KEV, Exploit-DB, Metasploit, Nuclei, GitHub) show no public exploit code or exploitation in the wild.
- Probability of exploitation in the next 30 days: 0.68% (FIRST EPSS); higher than 52.3% of all records.
- Anyone who can reach it over the internet can trigger it. No account or password is required. No user action is required. No special conditions are required; it is repeatable.
- According to CISA the attack is automatable: targets can be found by mass scanning.
- Fixed version: org.rundeck:rundeck (Maven) 4.2.2, 4.3.1.
Low priority for now. Upgrade to org.rundeck:rundeck (Maven) 4.2.2, 4.3.1 or later.
Generated automatically from the record's data: CVSS (NVD and CNA), CISA KEV and SSVC, FIRST EPSS, exploit sources, fixed versions. How we calculate it
Primary sources: NVD · CVE.org · FIRST EPSS
Rundeck is an open source automation service with a web console, command line tools and a WebAPI. The Key Storage converter plugin mechanism was not enabled correctly in Rundeck 4.2.0 and 4.2.1, resulting in use of the encryption layer for Key Storage possibly not working. Any credentials created or overwritten using Rundeck 4.2.0 or 4.2.1 might result in them being written in plaintext to the backend storage. This affects those using any `Storage Converter` plugin. Rundeck 4.3.1 and 4.2.2 have fixed the code and upon upgrade will re-encrypt any plain text values. Version 4.3.0 does not have the vulnerability, but does not include the patch to re-encrypt plain text values if 4.2.0 or 4.2.1 were used. To prevent plaintext credentials from being stored in Rundeck 4.2.0/4.2.1, write access to key storage can be disabled via ACLs. After upgrading to 4.3.1 or later, write access can be restored.
- Published
- Jun 15, 2022
- Updated
- Jun 17, 2026
- EPSS
- 0.6% · 52th percentile
- CWE
- CWE-256
Report tools
Action score
30
Monitor
Low priority for now.
- CVSS
- 30 / 40 · 7.5 / 10
- CISA KEV
- 0 / 30 · Not listed
- EPSS
- 0 / 30 · 0.6%
CISA SSVC decision
- Exploitation
- none
- Automatable
- yes
- Technical impact
- partial
Vulnrichment: CISA's decision-tree inputs.
CNA vs NVD score
- NVD
- 7.5
- CNA · GitHub_M
- 7.5
- agree
The score given by the assigning authority versus NVD’s independent score. A gap means the severity is contested.
Get told when this record changes
- Not in KEV: no record of exploitation in the wild
- No public exploit code on record
- A fix has been released
If any of these changes, we'll tell you in the daily email digest.
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Noroxi analysis
What does it mean in your environment?
The assessment above is generated automatically from the record's data; it doesn't know your environment. Our team verifies on your systems whether this vulnerability is actually exploitable and which mitigation is enough.
We use this product, ask for helpAffected systems
Is your version affected?
Pick the product and type the version you run. It's compared with this record's version ranges in your browser; the version isn't sent anywhere.
| Vendor | Product | CPE |
|---|---|---|
| pagerduty | rundeck | cpe:2.3:a:pagerduty:rundeck |
Affected versions
NVD version ranges (for catalog products). Add the product to your stack with a version and matching uses these.
- pagerduty rundeck4.2.0
- pagerduty rundeck4.2.1
Versions reported by the vendor
Affected version ranges reported by the assigning authority (GitHub_M). Independent of NVD's CPE analysis and usually ahead of it.
rundeck rundeck
- >= 4.2.0, < 4.2.2affected
Package-level exposure
OSV and GitHub Advisory data: ecosystem, package and range. SBOM matching uses this table.
| Ecosystem | Package | Affected range | Fix |
|---|---|---|---|
| Maven | org.rundeck:rundeck | from 4.2.0 · before 4.2.2 | 4.2.2 |
| Maven | org.rundeck:rundeck | from 4.3.0 · before 4.3.1 | 4.3.1 |
Same product
pagerduty: all recordsOther highest-scoring records for the same primary product.
- CVE-2022-29186Use of Hard-coded Cryptographic Key in rundeck/rundeck, rundeckpro/enterprise39Monitor
- CVE-2021-39132YAML deserialization can run untrusted code36Monitor
- CVE-2021-41112Missing Authorization in Rundeck32Monitor
Published before and after this one in the same product
- ← EarlierCVE-2021-39133Aug 30, 2021 · Cross-Site Request Forgery (CSRF) can run untrusted code on Rundeck server27Monitor
- ← EarlierCVE-2021-41111Feb 28, 2022 · Authorization Bypass Through User-Controlled Key in Rundeck21Monitor
- Later →CVE-2023-47112Nov 16, 2023 · Authenticated users can view job names and groups they do not have authorization to view in Rundeck17Monitor
Remediation
Which version to upgrade to
Fix versions compiled from the vendor, package registries and Microsoft. Verify the vendor's note before upgrading.
| Product / package | Fixed version | Source |
|---|---|---|
| Maven:org.rundeck:rundeck | 4.2.2 | Package registry (OSV) |
| Maven:org.rundeck:rundeck | 4.3.1 | Package registry (OSV) |
Exploit status
No known public exploit
No public exploit has been observed yet. That doesn't mean you're safe, only that the bar is a little higher.
Research context
For pentesters and researchers: attack profile, score disagreement, timeline, patch commits, credits, variant and chain candidates, bug bounty scope. All derived from existing data; no exploit code.
Timeline
From publication to today: proof of concept, Metasploit module, CISA KEV and fix record. Dates are as reported by the sources.
No dated events beyond publication.
FIRST EPSS daily score; only changes of 0.01 or more are recorded (step chart).
Patch and commit links
Commit, PR and diff links among the references. A starting point for patch-diffing and variant hunting; fixes, not exploits.
No commit or PR link among the references.
Credits
All researchersFinders, reporters and analysts named in the CNA record. Click a name for that researcher’s other records.
No credits in the CNA record.
Variant candidates
Same product, same weakness class, within 18 months. If the patch missed the root cause, the sibling bug is here.
No nightly-computed relations.
Chain candidates
An authentication bypass and a privilege-requiring bug in the same product, published close together: combined they may become an unauthenticated path.
—
Bug bounty scope
The product’s vendor appears in a public program. Matched by name; verify the scope text in the program.
Technical details
Attack conditions
- Anyone who can reach it over the internet can trigger it.
- No account or password is required.
- No user action is required.
- No special conditions are required; it is repeatable.
If successful
- Confidentiality
- high · data can be read
- Integrity
- none
- Availability
- none
- Attack vector
- Network
- Attack complexity
- Low
- Privileges required
- None
- User interaction
- None
- Scope
- Unchanged
- Confidentiality impact
- High
- Integrity impact
- None
- Availability impact
- None
Weakness class (CWE)
CWE-256 · Plaintext Storage of a PasswordCVSS vector
CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:L/PR:N/UI:N/S:U/C:H/I:N/A:N
nvd-primary
Attack context
MITRE CAPEC attack patterns and ATT&CK techniques for this weakness class (CWE). A starting point for detection rules and threat hunting.
MITRE has no CAPEC/ATT&CK mapping for this CWE.
Change log
- Fix✗ → ✓
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References
Vendor advisories and official records. Exploit/PoC links are deliberately left out.