Clear-text Password Vulnerability in H2 Database Engine

h2database Updated 02 Oct 2025

Summary

23/11/2022

Disclosed on

N/A

Severity

No i

Fix available

High

Severity

7.8

CVSS Score

CVE-2022-45868: The web-based admin console in H2 Database Engine before 2.2.220 can be started via the CLI with the argument -webAdminPassword, which allows the user to specify the password in cleartext for the web admin console. Affects h2database versions < 66185fbfde24fbe5b2adf06fdaae4f5ffb178813. No fix is published. How to fix ↓

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Background

The H2 Database Engine is an open-source relational database management system written in Java. It provides a web-based admin console for managing the database. The vulnerability in question allows the web admin console password to be specified in cleartext via the command-line interface (CLI). This means that a local user or an attacker with local access can discover the password by listing processes and their arguments.

Vulnerability Detail

The vulnerability (CVE-2022-45868) arises from the ability to start the web-based admin console with the argument -webAdminPassword, which exposes the password in cleartext. While the vendor argues that passing passwords on the command line is not a vulnerability, it can still pose a security risk. The issue was fixed in version 2.2.220 of the H2 Database Engine.

How To Fix

No fixed version is published for this vulnerability.

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Workaround

There is no specific workaround mentioned for this vulnerability.

Conclusion

The clear-text password vulnerability in the H2 Database Engine's web-based admin console can be mitigated by upgrading to version 2.2.220 or later. It is important to follow best practices and avoid passing passwords on the command line. For further support on vulnerability remediation, please contact DevNack.com.

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