Summary
Workarounds
There is no recommended work around. We recommend affected users update the installed version of efs-utils to v1.34.4+ or aws-efs-csi-driver to v1.4.8+ to address this issue.
References
https://github.com/aws/efs-utils/commit/f3a8f88167d55caa2f78aeb72d4dc1987a9ed62d
https://github.com/aws/efs-utils/issues/125
https://github.com/kubernetes-sigs/aws-efs-csi-driver/issues/282
https://github.com/kubernetes-sigs/aws-efs-csi-driver/issues/635
Impact
A potential race condition issue exists within the Amazon EFS mount helper in efs-utils versions v1.34.3 and below, and aws-efs-csi-driver versions v1.4.7 and below. When using TLS to mount file systems, the mount helper allocates a local port for stunnel to receive NFS connections prior to applying the TLS tunnel. In affected versions, concurrent mount operations can allocate the same local port, leading to either failed mount operations or an inappropriate mapping from an EFS customer’s local mount points to that customer’s EFS file systems.
Affected versions: efs-utils <= v1.34.3, aws-efs-csi-driver <= v1.4.7
Multiple concurrent operations access a shared resource without proper synchronization, producing unpredictable results depending on timing. Typical impact: TOCTOU exploits, data corruption, or privilege escalation.
CVE-2022-46174 has a CVSS score of 4.2 (Medium). The vector is network-reachable, low privileges required, and no user interaction. A CVSS score reflects the worst-case severity of the vulnerability, not your specific exposure. Whether this affects your application depends on whether the vulnerable code is present and reachable in your environment. A fixed version is available (1.4.8); upgrading removes the vulnerable code path.
Affected versions
Security releases
Kodem intelligence
Severity tells you how bad this could be in the worst case. It does not tell you whether you are exposed. Exploitability and impact are functions of runtime truth: whether the vulnerable code is present, reachable, and actually executes in your application. A vulnerable package can sit in your dependency tree and never run.
Kodem, an Intelligent Application Security platform, uses runtime intelligence to reveal which vulnerabilities actually execute in production, so teams prioritize the ones that genuinely matter. Kodem's runtime-powered SCA identifies whether this CVE is reachable in your applications.
Remediation advice
The patches are included in efs-utils version v1.34.4 and newer, and in aws-efs-csi-driver v1.4.8 and newer.
Frequently Asked Questions
- What is CVE-2022-46174? CVE-2022-46174 is a medium-severity race condition vulnerability in github.com/kubernetes-sigs/aws-efs-csi-driver (go), affecting versions <= 1.4.7. It is fixed in 1.4.8. Multiple concurrent operations access a shared resource without proper synchronization, producing unpredictable results depending on timing.
- How severe is CVE-2022-46174? CVE-2022-46174 has a CVSS score of 4.2 (Medium). This score reflects the worst-case severity of the vulnerability, not your specific exposure. Whether it represents real risk in your environment depends on whether the vulnerable code is present and reachable.
- Which versions of github.com/kubernetes-sigs/aws-efs-csi-driver are affected by CVE-2022-46174? github.com/kubernetes-sigs/aws-efs-csi-driver (go) versions <= 1.4.7 is affected.
- Is there a fix for CVE-2022-46174? Yes. CVE-2022-46174 is fixed in 1.4.8. Upgrade to this version or later.
- Is CVE-2022-46174 exploitable, and should I be worried? Whether CVE-2022-46174 is exploitable in your environment depends on whether the vulnerable code is present and reachable. A CVSS score is a worst-case rating; it does not account for your specific deployment, configuration, or usage patterns. Kodem, an Intelligent Application Security platform, uses runtime intelligence to show which vulnerabilities actually execute in production, so you can focus on the ones that represent real risk. Get a demo
- What actually determines whether CVE-2022-46174 is exploitable, and how bad it is? Exploitability and impact are not fixed properties of a CVE. They depend on runtime truth: whether the vulnerable code is present, reachable, and actually executes in your application. A high CVSS score on a dependency that never runs is not the same as real risk. Kodem, an Intelligent Application Security platform, uses runtime intelligence to reveal which vulnerabilities actually execute in production, so teams prioritize the ones that genuinely matter.
- How do I fix CVE-2022-46174? Upgrade
github.com/kubernetes-sigs/aws-efs-csi-driverto 1.4.8 or later.