CVE-2022-23511: amazon cloudwatch_agent

Vulnerability summary

CVE-2022-23511 is a high (CVSS 7.1) vulnerability in amazon cloudwatch_agent. EPSS estimates a 0.52% chance of exploitation in the next 30 days, higher than 43.2% of scored vulnerabilities.

Timeline

1. 12-12-2022
   PublishedVulnerability first disclosed.
2. 23-04-2025
   Last modifiedVulnerability information updated.

Description

A privilege escalation issue exists within the Amazon CloudWatch Agent for Windows, software for collecting metrics and logs from Amazon EC2 instances and on-premises servers, in versions up to and including v1.247354. When users trigger a repair of the Agent, a pop-up window opens with SYSTEM permissions. Users with administrative access to affected hosts may use this to create a new command prompt as NT AUTHORITY\SYSTEM. To trigger this issue, the third party must be able to access the affected host and elevate their privileges such that they're able to trigger the agent repair process. They must also be able to install the tools required to trigger the issue. This issue does not affect the CloudWatch Agent for macOS or Linux. Agent users should upgrade to version 1.247355 of the CloudWatch Agent to address this issue. There is no recommended work around. Affected users must update the installed version of the CloudWatch Agent to address this issue.

• CWE-274Improper Handling of Insufficient PrivilegesThe product does not handle or incorrectly handles when it has insufficient privileges to perform an operation, leading to resultant weaknesses.