CVE-2022-33683
MEDIUMCVE-2022-33683 is a medium-severity (CVSS 5.9) CWE-295 vulnerability in org.apache.pulsar:pulsar-broker. O3 Security confirms whether CVE-2022-33683 is actually reachable in your code before you act, and blocks exploitation at runtime until you patch.
Disabled Certificate Validation makes Broker, Proxy Admin Clients vulnerable to MITM attack
Blast Radius
org.apache.pulsar:pulsar-broker☕org.apache.pulsar:pulsar-proxy☕org.apache.pulsar:pulsar-broker☕org.apache.pulsar:pulsar-proxy☕org.apache.pulsar:pulsar-broker☕org.apache.pulsar:pulsar-proxy☕org.apache.pulsar:pulsar-broker☕org.apache.pulsar:pulsar-proxyReal-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
Apache Pulsar Brokers and Proxies create an internal Pulsar Admin Client that does not verify peer TLS certificates, even when tlsAllowInsecureConnection is disabled via configuration. The Pulsar Admin Client's intra-cluster and geo-replication HTTPS connections are vulnerable to man in the middle attacks, which could leak authentication data, configuration data, and any other data sent by these clients. An attacker can only take advantage of this vulnerability by taking control of a machine 'between' the client and the server. The attacker must then actively manipulate traffic to perform the attack. This issue affects Apache Pulsar Broker and Proxy versions 2.7.0 to 2.7.4; 2.8.0 to 2.8.3; 2.9.0 to 2.9.2; 2.10.0; 2.6.4 and earlier.
Affected Packages
| Ecosystem | Package | Vulnerable range | Fix |
|---|---|---|---|
| ☕Maven | org.apache.pulsar:pulsar-broker | all versions | 2.7.5 |
| ☕Maven | org.apache.pulsar:pulsar-proxy | all versions | 2.7.5 |
| ☕Maven | org.apache.pulsar:pulsar-broker | ≥ 2.8.0&&< 2.8.4 | 2.8.4 |
| ☕Maven | org.apache.pulsar:pulsar-proxy | ≥ 2.8.0&&< 2.8.4 | 2.8.4 |
| ☕Maven | org.apache.pulsar:pulsar-broker | ≥ 2.9.0&&< 2.9.3 | 2.9.3 |
| ☕Maven | org.apache.pulsar:pulsar-proxy | ≥ 2.9.0&&< 2.9.3 | 2.9.3 |
Detection & mitigation playbook
Open-source dependencyDetect
Scan your dependency tree (package-lock.json, pnpm-lock.yaml, requirements.txt, go.sum, etc.) for org.apache.pulsar:pulsar-broker. 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.apache.pulsar:pulsar-broker to 2.7.5 or later, then make sure no transitive (indirect) dependency still pins the vulnerable range — O3 confirms CVE-2022-33683 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-2022-33683 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-2022-33683. 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-2022-33683 in your dependencies?
O3 detects CVE-2022-33683 across Maven dependencies and uses function-level reachability to confirm whether the vulnerable code path is actually reachable — not just present. No false positives.