CVE-2022-37705: A privilege escalation flaw was found in Amanda 3.5.1 in which the backup user can acquire root privileges

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MEDIUM 6.7DOWNGRADE

CVE-2022-37705 is a medium-severity flaw (CVSS 6.7) affecting amanda. Below: why it ranks where it does, which versions are affected, what to do, and the exact commands.

A privilege escalation flaw was found in Amanda 3.5.1 in which the backup user can acquire root privileges. The vulnerable component is the runtar SUID program, which is a wrapper to run /usr/bin/tar with specific arguments that are controllable by the attacker. This program mishandles the arguments passed to tar binary (it expects that the argument name and value are separated with a space; however, separating them with an equals sign is also su

Why this priority

Public exploit reference

No fix is published yet: follow the downgrade or mitigation steps.

Risk facts

CVSS score	6.7 (Medium)
Attack vector	Local
Attack complexity	Low
Privileges needed	High
User interaction	None
EPSS exploit chance	1.3% (top 31%)
CISA exploited list	No
Weakness	CWE-88
Published	2023-04-16
Last modified	2026-06-17

Publisher (CNA): MITRE · Vendor: zmanda

Last updated 2026-06-17 · Sources: CVE Program, NVD, CISA KEV, EPSS and vendor advisories · How we score

Am I affected?

Timeline

2023-04-16 01:15 UTCPublished CVE record published
2026-06-17 04:55 UTCUpdated Record last modified

zmanda amanda DOWNGRADE

Affected: 3.5.1

Fixed in: no fixed release known

Safe to downgrade to: a release before 3.5.1

1. Check installed version

apt-cache policy amanda || rpm -q amanda || amanda --version

2. No fixed release: DOWNGRADE to a release before 3.5.1 (Debian / Ubuntu)

apt-cache madison amanda sudo apt install amanda=<VERSION_BEFORE_3.5.1> sudo apt-mark hold amanda

2. No fixed release: DOWNGRADE (RHEL / Amazon Linux / Fedora)

dnf --showduplicates list amanda sudo dnf downgrade amanda-<VERSION_BEFORE_3.5.1> sudo dnf versionlock add amanda

Downgrade risk

Downgrading can break dependent software and may reopen older bugs. Read the distro advisory first and test on a non-production host.

After downgrade

Restart the service, and keep the package held until a fixed release ships.

Verify at the official source NVD · CVE Program · Report a problem with this page
Scores and fixes here are computed automatically from those and other public sources. Confirm with the vendor advisory before changing production systems.

Quick answers

How do I fix CVE-2022-37705?

amanda: downgrade or apply the listed mitigation. Exact commands for each OS are on this page.

Is CVE-2022-37705 being exploited?

CVE-2022-37705 is not on the CISA Known Exploited Vulnerabilities list at the time of the last update. Check again, as this can change.

What does CVE-2022-37705 affect?

CVE-2022-37705 affects amanda. Severity is medium (CVSS 6.7). A privilege escalation flaw was found in Amanda 3.5.1 in which the backup user can acquire root privileges. The vulnerable component is the runtar SUID program, which is a wrapper to run /usr/bin/tar with specific arguments that are control

How urgent is CVE-2022-37705?

Priority 46/100. Public exploit reference

Related CVEs

CVE-2023-30577 HIGH 7.8 UPGRADE AMANDA (Advanced Maryland Automatic Network Disk Archiver) before tag-community-3.5.4 mishandles argument chec
CVE-2022-37704 MEDIUM 6.7 DOWNGRADE Amanda 3.5.1 allows privilege escalation from the regular user backup to root
CVE-2022-37703 LOW 3.3 DOWNGRADE In Amanda 3.5.1, an information leak vulnerability was found in the calcsize SUID binary

References

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