CVE-2022-24756Public exploitNetwork attack vector

Service halt via unreleased PAM authentication handles

Published Mar 15, 2022 · Updated Apr 22, 2025

Memory exhaustion in Bareos Director allows remote attackers to halt the service through repeated failed PAM logins. In core/src/dird/auth_pam.cc, failure paths returned before pam_end released the PAM handle, leaking memory after each rejected authentication. The Director must be built and configured for PAM, and the attacker must know the PAM Console shared secret or reach it through WebUI.

CVSS severity7.5
High
EPSS probability1.94%
Next 30 days · Sep 16, 2026
Known exploitationUnconfirmed
Based on sourced intelligence
Hinoki checkNot available
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Summary

What happened

Memory exhaustion in Bareos Director allows remote attackers to halt the service through repeated failed PAM logins. In core/src/dird/auth_pam.cc, failure paths returned before pam_end released the PAM handle, leaking memory after each rejected authentication. The Director must be built and configured for PAM, and the attacker must know the PAM Console shared secret or reach it through WebUI.

The record

CVE
CVE-2022-24756
Published
Mar 15, 2022
Updated
Apr 22, 2025
Vendor
Bareos
Product
Bareos
Classifications
CWE-401, T1499.004
Attack vector
network
Privileges
unauthenticated

Timeline

How it unfolded

  1. Mar 15, 2022CVE publishedPublication date reported by the CVE source.
  2. Apr 22, 2025Record updatedLatest update available in the CVE record.

Exploitability

Present is not the same as exploitable

Compare your product and version with the public record. A matching version still requires validation against your environment.

Is a vulnerable build present?

Compare these published version ranges with your installed build and any vendor patches.

  1. Affected versionversion=>= 18.2, < 19.2.12
  2. Affected versionversion=>= 20.0.0, < 20.0.6
  3. Affected versionversion=>= 21.0.0, < 21.1.0

What conditions does exploitation require?

Attack vectornetwork
Required privilegesunauthenticated

What is affected?

Bareos · Bareosversion=>= 18.2, < 19.2.12; version=>= 20.0.0, < 20.0.6; version=>= 21.0.0, < 21.1.0

Published CVSS scores

4.3NIST NVDAV:N/AC:M/Au:N/C:N/I:N/A:P
7.5NIST NVDCVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:L/PR:N/UI:N/S:U/C:N/I:N/A:H
7.5GitHub, Inc.CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:L/PR:N/UI:N/S:U/C:N/I:N/A:H

CVSS describes severity. EPSS estimates exploitation probability.

Attacks

What attackers are doing with it

Daily unique IPs observed by Shadowserver honeypots for known exploited vulnerabilities (KEVs). Missing observations do not establish an absence of attacks.

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No observations available

Sep 10, 2026Sep 16, 2026
Latest reporting daySep 16, 2026
Latest daily unique IPsUnavailable
Prior 30-day averageUnavailable
SourceShadowserver honeypots (KEV)
Vectornetwork
Privilegesunauthenticated
Known exploitationUnconfirmed
Public exploitPublished

Weakness, pattern, technique

CWE-401Missing Release of Memory after Effective Lifetime
T1499.004Application or System Exploitation

Public exploit references

Labels summarize the accepted research assessment. They do not indicate a test against your environment.

Technologies

Your stack

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Your stack

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