VulnerabilityPublished 23 Sep 2022Updated 27 May 2025

CVE-2022-41320: Veritas System Recovery · Insecure Storage of Sensitive Information

Source CVE Database V5

Not known to be exploited · CVSS 6.5 Medium.

Data as of 26 Oct 2026, 10:12 UTC

CVSS 3.1 base score

6.5Medium

How severe the flaw is on the 0–10 CVSS scale.

EPSS: 0.6% chance of exploitation in 30 days – higher than 52% of CVEsExploit Prediction Scoring System: the likelihood attackers will use this flaw soon.

CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:L/PR:L/UI:N/S:U/C:H/I:N/A:N

Attack Vector: Network
Attack Complexity: Low
Privileges Required: Low
User Interaction: None
Scope: Unchanged
Confidentiality: High
Integrity: None
Availability: None

Bold values are the worst case: easiest to exploit or largest impact.

Attack Vector: Network: The vulnerable component is bound to the network stack and the set of possible attackers extends beyond the other options listed, up to and including the entire Internet. Such a vulnerability is often termed 'remotely exploitable' and can be thought of as an attack being exploitable at the protocol level one or more network hops away (e.g., across one or more routers).
Attack Complexity: Low: Specialized access conditions or extenuating circumstances do not exist. An attacker can expect repeatable success against the vulnerable component.
Privileges Required: Low: The attacker is authorized with (i.e., requires) privileges that provide basic user capabilities that could normally affect only settings and files owned by a user. Alternatively, an attacker with Low privileges may have the ability to cause an impact only to non-sensitive resources.
User Interaction: None: The vulnerable system can be exploited without any interaction from any user.
Scope: Unchanged: An exploited vulnerability can only affect resources managed by the same security authority. In this case, the vulnerable component and the impacted component are either the same, or both are managed by the same security authority.
Confidentiality: High: There is total loss of confidentiality, resulting in all resources within the impacted component being divulged to the attacker. Alternatively, access to only some restricted information is obtained, but the disclosed information presents a direct, serious impact.
Integrity: None: There is no loss of integrity within the impacted component.
Availability: None: There is no impact to availability within the impacted component.

Definitions: FIRST CVSS v3.1 specification.

Exploitation evidence

Disclosed: evidence found.
CVE published 23 Sep 2022
Detectable: no evidence on record.
No public nuclei template indexed
Weaponised: no evidence on record.
No public exploit code indexed in Metasploit or Exploit-DB
Exploited in the wildExploited: no evidence on record.
Not in CISA KEV and no source reports exploitation
Observed by OffSeq MirageSeen by Mirage: no evidence on record.
No attack traffic recorded by OffSeq Mirage sensors

A missing step is not evidence of safety. Sources: cve.org (opens in a new tab), the Metasploit, Exploit-DB and nuclei-templates index as of 26 Oct 2026.

Disclosed: The CVE record is public on cve.org. Its publication is t = 0.
Detectable: A public nuclei template can find exposed instances, for defenders and attackers alike.
Weaponised: Public exploit code exists in Metasploit or Exploit-DB, or CISA SSVC or the CVSS exploit maturity reports a public proof of concept.
Exploited in the wild: CISA KEV lists it, CISA SSVC rates exploitation active, or a source reports attacks.
Observed by OffSeq Mirage: OffSeq Mirage honeypot sensors recorded attack traffic for this CVE, or found exposed hosts without attack traffic.

Moments are spaced evenly, not to scale; a dashed line marks a gap of six months or more. Deltas count from t = 0. Sources that give only a date (CISA KEV, Exploit-DB, or a time of exactly 00:00Z) read “same day” rather than hours. Metasploit modules carry the flaw’s disclosure date, not their release date, and nuclei templates carry no date, so both appear above but not on the timeline.

What to do

Affected software

Product	Affected	Fixed in
n/a n/a	Affected =18 =21	Fixed in–

AI-suggested

To mitigate this vulnerability, European organizations should take several specific steps beyond generic patching advice: 1) Restrict and audit access to Windows registry keys where backup configuration passwords are stored, ensuring only highly trusted administrators have read permissions. 2) Implement strict privilege management and least privilege principles to minimize the number of users with sufficient rights to access sensitive registry areas. 3) Employ endpoint detection and response (EDR) solutions to monitor for suspicious access to registry keys and unusual lateral movement attempts. 4) Use network segmentation to isolate backup servers and restrict access to network file systems only to authorized systems and users. 5) Where possible, configure Veritas System Recovery to avoid storing plaintext passwords or use alternative authentication mechanisms such as managed service accounts or credential vaults. 6) Regularly review and rotate network destination passwords used in backup configurations to limit the window of exposure. 7) Conduct security awareness training for administrators and users with elevated privileges about the risks of credential exposure and best practices for secure handling. 8) Monitor vendor communications for patches or updates addressing this vulnerability and apply them promptly once available.

Description

Veritas System Recovery (VSR) versions 18 and 21 store a network destination password in the Windows registry during configuration of the backup configuration. This vulnerability could provide a Windows user (who has sufficient privileges) to access a network file system that they were not authorized to access.

Impact

For European organizations, the impact of this vulnerability could be significant, especially for those relying on Veritas System Recovery for backup and disaster recovery operations. The exposure of network destination passwords could lead to unauthorized access to sensitive network shares, potentially resulting in data breaches or leakage of confidential information. This risk is heightened in environments where multiple users have elevated privileges on backup servers or workstations, or where endpoint security controls are insufficient to prevent privilege escalation. Additionally, unauthorized access to network file systems could facilitate further attacks such as data exfiltration or the planting of malicious files. Given the critical role of backup systems in business continuity, any compromise of backup credentials could undermine trust in recovery processes and increase the risk of ransomware or other destructive attacks. European organizations in regulated sectors (e.g., finance, healthcare, government) may face compliance and reputational risks if sensitive data is exposed due to this vulnerability. However, the requirement for local privileges to exploit the vulnerability somewhat limits the attack surface to insiders or attackers who have already compromised a system within the network.

CWE-922Insecure Storage of Sensitive Information (opens in a new tab)
Class weaknessOWASP Top 10 A01:2025: Broken Access Control (opens in a new tab)
The product stores sensitive information without properly limiting read or write access by unauthorized actors.
OWASP Cheat Sheets
Authorization (opens in a new tab)
OWASP ASVS 4.0.3
V8.1.6 (opens in a new tab)
V8.2.3 (opens in a new tab)
V8.2.2 (opens in a new tab)
From MITRE CWE, MITRE CAPEC and OWASP (Top 10, OpenCRE).

References

veritas.com/content/support/en_US/security/VTS21-002 (opens in a new tab)

Community reviews

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Exploitation evidence

What to do

Affected software

Description

AI analysisMachine-generated, updated 6 Jul 2025, 04:24 UTC

WeaknessesCWE-922

Technical details

References

Community reviews

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