CVE-2022-22491 in App Connect Enterprise Certified Container
Summary
by MITRE • 01/09/2025
IBM App Connect Enterprise Certified Container 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, 12.1, 12.2, 12.3, and 12.4 operands running in Red Hat OpenShift do not restrict writing to the local filesystem, which may result in exhausting the available storage in a Pod, resulting in that Pod being restarted.
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Analysis
by VulDB Data Team • 01/09/2025
CVE-2022-22491 represents a critical storage exhaustion vulnerability affecting IBM App Connect Enterprise Certified Containers across multiple versions when deployed in Red Hat OpenShift environments. This vulnerability stems from insufficient restrictions on local filesystem write operations within the containerized runtime environment, creating a potential denial of service condition that can severely impact application availability and system stability. The flaw specifically affects operands running in OpenShift Pods where the containerized application can write to the local filesystem without proper constraints, leading to uncontrolled storage consumption that ultimately forces Pod restarts and disrupts service continuity.
The technical implementation of this vulnerability involves the container's inability to properly limit or monitor filesystem write operations to the local storage volume. When applications running within these containers perform write operations, they can consume available storage space without restriction, potentially filling the Pod's local storage capacity. This behavior aligns with CWE-310, which addresses cryptographic weaknesses and improper resource management in software systems. The vulnerability exists at the container runtime level where the security boundaries between the container and host filesystem are inadequately enforced, allowing for unlimited local storage consumption that can trigger automatic Pod restart mechanisms within the OpenShift orchestration platform.
From an operational impact perspective, this vulnerability creates significant risk for organizations relying on IBM App Connect Enterprise for integration workloads in containerized environments. The storage exhaustion can occur gradually or suddenly depending on the write patterns of the applications, making it difficult to predict or prevent. When storage space becomes exhausted, the OpenShift platform automatically restarts the affected Pod to prevent further degradation of the system, resulting in service interruptions and potential data loss. This vulnerability particularly affects high-volume integration scenarios where applications continuously write to local storage, such as log files, temporary data processing files, or cache storage. The impact extends beyond simple service disruption to include potential cascading failures in distributed systems where integration services are critical components of larger workflows.
Organizations should implement immediate mitigations including monitoring of Pod storage consumption, implementing storage quotas and limits for containers, and conducting regular audits of local filesystem usage patterns. The recommended approach involves configuring OpenShift ResourceQuotas to limit storage consumption per namespace and Pod, while also implementing application-level controls to prevent excessive local storage writes. Additionally, organizations should consider implementing log rotation policies, temporary file cleanup mechanisms, and storage monitoring alerts to detect and prevent storage exhaustion before it occurs. This vulnerability highlights the importance of proper container security configuration and aligns with ATT&CK technique T1499 which addresses resource exhaustion attacks. The mitigation strategy should also include regular vulnerability assessments of containerized applications and adherence to security best practices for container deployment in orchestration platforms. Organizations must also consider implementing centralized logging solutions that reduce the need for local storage writes while maintaining audit capabilities for compliance requirements.