CVE-2022-31044
HIGHPlaintext Storage of Keys and Passwords in Rundeck and PagerDuty Process Automation
EPSS Exploitation Probability
EPSS (Exploit Prediction Scoring System) is a daily probability model maintained by FIRST.org. It estimates the likelihood a CVE will be exploited in production environments within the next 30 days, derived from real-world threat intelligence signals.
Blast Radius
org.rundeck:rundeck☕org.rundeck:rundeckReal-time download stats are indexed for npm and PyPI packages. This vulnerability affects Maven packages — download data is not available via public APIs for these ecosystems.
Description
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.
Affected Packages
| Ecosystem | Package | Vulnerable range | Fix |
|---|---|---|---|
| ☕Maven | org.rundeck:rundeck | ≥ 4.2.0&&< 4.2.2 | 4.2.2 |
| ☕Maven | org.rundeck:rundeck | ≥ 4.3.0&&< 4.3.1 | 4.3.1 |
Detection & mitigation playbook
Open-source dependencyDetect
Scan your dependency tree (package-lock.json, pnpm-lock.yaml, requirements.txt, go.sum, etc.) for org.rundeck:rundeck. O3's reachability analysis confirms whether the vulnerable code path is actually invoked in your application, so you act on real exposure instead of every transitive match.
Fix
Update org.rundeck:rundeck to 4.2.2 or later, then make sure no transitive (indirect) dependency still pins the vulnerable range — O3 confirms CVE-2022-31044 is resolved across your whole dependency graph.
Workarounds
If you can't upgrade right away: gate or disable the affected feature, validate untrusted input at the boundary, and avoid passing attacker-controlled data into the vulnerable path. O3's runtime protection blocks exploitation in production as an interim safeguard until the upgrade lands.
How O3 protects you
O3 pinpoints whether CVE-2022-31044 is reachable in your code and exactly where to fix it, then blocks exploitation in production at runtime until the patched version is deployed.
Tailored to CVE-2022-31044. Runtime protection reduces exposure until a permanent patch is applied and verified — it complements patching, it doesn't replace it.
Frequently Asked Questions
Is CVE-2022-31044 in your dependencies?
O3 detects CVE-2022-31044 across Maven dependencies and uses function-level reachability to confirm whether the vulnerable code path is actually reachable — not just present. No false positives.