Use of Hard-coded Cryptographic Key in rundeck/rundeck, rundeckpro/enterprise
Published May 20, 2022 · Updated Oct 23, 2026
Original summary
Normalized public record · Updated Oct 23, 2026
Use of Hard-coded Cryptographic Key in rundeck/rundeck, rundeckpro/enterprise
Publisher and source text is retained separately from QFinch interpretation.
QFinch assessment
Rundeck is an open source automation service with a web console, command line tools and a WebAPI. Rundeck community and rundeck-enterprise docker images contained a pre-generated SSH keypair. If the id_rsa.pub public key of the keypair was copied to authorized_keys files on remote host, those hosts would allow access to anyone with the exposed private credentials. This misconfiguration only impacts Rundeck Docker instances of PagerDuty® Process Automation On Prem (formerly Rundeck) version 4.0 and earlier, not Debian, RPM or .WAR. Additionally, the id_rsa.pub file would have to be copied from the Docker image filesystem contents without overwriting it and used to configure SSH access on a host. A patch on Rundeck's `main` branch has removed the pre-generated SSH key pair, but it does not remove exposed keys that have been configured. To patch, users must run a script on hosts in their environment to search for exposed keys and rotate them. Two workarounds are available: Do not use any pre-existing public key file from the rundeck docker images to allow SSH access by adding it to authorized_keys files and, if you have copied the public key file included in the docker image, remove it from any authorized_keys files.
Evidence: public source recordsAffected products
| Affected package, product or range | Fix status |
|---|---|
| Consult the referenced vendor advisory for affected versions. | Consult source advisory |
Matching a version is only one part of assessing exposure. QFinch has not assessed your environment on this public page.
Remediation
Apply the vendor-supported fixed release or mitigation, then verify the affected component is no longer reachable.
- Confirm the affected product and reachable code path exist in your environment.
- Apply the vendor-supported patch or mitigation from the primary advisory.
- Rescan the exact deployed revision and retain verification evidence.
Evidence coverage
- SSVC priority
- MEDIUM
- Confidence
- 20%
- Aliases
- None reported
Scores appear only when corresponding evidence exists. Missing data is never interpreted as zero risk.
Sources and record history
Record history
Published May 20, 2022 · Last refreshed Oct 23, 2026