CVE-2022-41852: Withdrawn Remote Code Execution Vulnerability

CRITICAL
Advisory Identifier: GHSA-wrx5-rp7m-mm49
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CVSS 9.8
CWE-470
Published
Advisory Summary

CVE-2022-41852 is a CRITICAL (CVSS 9.8) remote code execution vulnerability (CWE-470: Use of Externally-Controlled Input to Select Classes or Code ('Unsafe Reflection')) affecting Withdrawn libraries in the Maven ecosystem. The issue involves cve rejected: jxpath vulnerable to remote code execution when interpreting untrusted xpath expressions. Remediation is available in the latest vendor maintenance releases.

CVE-2022-41852 at a Glance

CVE Identifier CVE-2022-41852
GHSA Identifier GHSA-wrx5-rp7m-mm49
Severity CRITICAL
CVSS v3.1 Base Score 9.8
CWE Classification CWE-470: Use of Externally-Controlled Input to Select Classes or Code ('Unsafe Reflection')
Affected Product Withdrawn
Package Ecosystem Maven
Published Date
Last Updated

Security Impact

CVSS: 9.8

The security impact metrics below are parsed directly from the CVSS v3.1 vector string (CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:L/PR:N/UI:N/S:U/C:H/I:H/A:H).

Attack Vector Network (AV:N)
Attack Complexity Low (AC:L)
Privileges Required None (PR:N)
User Interaction None (UI:N)
Scope Unchanged (S:U)
Confidentiality High (C:H)
Integrity High (I:H)
Availability High (A:H)

How to Fix CVE-2022-41852

To remediate this vulnerability, upgrade all affected Withdrawn dependencies to a patched release. Both direct and transitive dependencies should be checked, as frameworks or security libraries may pull in vulnerable versions transitively.

commons-jxpath:commons-jxpath fixed: Latest secure release 
<dependency>
    <groupId>commons-jxpath</groupId>
    <artifactId>commons-jxpath</artifactId>
    <version>Latest secure release</version>
</dependency>
Verify Direct and Transitive Dependencies

Run the following command in your project directory to verify that all resolved dependencies use the patched release: 

mvn dependency:tree -Dincludes=commons-jxpath

How to Check if You Are Affected

To determine whether your Java application is affected by CVE-2022-41852, inspect your build dependencies using the Maven Dependency Plugin:

mvn dependency:tree -Dincludes=commons-jxpath

Analyze the terminal output to locate any version of Withdrawn in your dependency tree. If any resolved version matches the vulnerable ranges listed in the table below (for example, versions earlier than the patched release), your application is affected.

Note: The mvn dependency:tree -Dincludes=commons-jxpath command inspects the resolved dependency graph declared in your project's POM files; it does not perform automated security scanning or inspect runtime dynamic classpaths. Always verify runtime container classpaths and shaded JARs.

Technical Details

Vulnerability Mechanism & Technical Analysis

This vulnerability is classified under CWE-470: Use of Externally-Controlled Input to Select Classes or Code ('Unsafe Reflection'), where the product uses external input with reflection to select which classes or code to use, but it does not sufficiently prevent the input from selecting improper classes or code. In Withdrawn, software state validation or input boundaries are circumvented during processing. Review the official source advisory statement below for specific affected components, classes, and reproduction details.

Source Advisory Statement

## This advisory has been withdrawn due to the CVE being rejected. ## Original advisory text Those using JXPath to interpret untrusted XPath expressions may be vulnerable to a remote code execution attack. All JXPathContext class functions processing a XPath string are vulnerable except `compile()` and `compilePath()` function. The XPath expression can be used by an attacker to load any Java class from the classpath resulting in code execution.

CVE-2022-41852 Affected Withdrawn Versions

1 component(s)
Product / Package Ecosystem Affected Versions Fixed Version
commons-jxpath:commons-jxpath
maven/commons-jxpath/commons-jxpath
Maven
≤ 1.3

References

NVD — CVE-2022-41852 NVD
https://nvd.nist.gov/vuln/detail/CVE-2022-41852
bugs.chromium.org/p/oss-fuzz/issues/d... WEB
https://bugs.chromium.org/p/oss-fuzz/issues/detail?id=47133
commons.apache.org/proper/commons-jxpa... WEB
https://commons.apache.org/proper/commons-jxpath/users-guide.html#Standard_Extension_Functions
Withdrawn Source Repository REPOSITORY
https://github.com/apache/commons-jxpath
hackinglab.cz/en/blog/remote-code... WEB
https://hackinglab.cz/en/blog/remote-code-execution-in-jxpath-library-cve-2022-41852

Frequently Asked Questions

What is CVE-2022-41852?
CVE-2022-41852 is a security vulnerability in Withdrawn involving CVE Rejected: JXPath vulnerable to remote code execution when interpreting untrusted XPath expressions under CWE-470: Use of Externally-Controlled Input to Select Classes or Code ('Unsafe Reflection').
Which Withdrawn versions are affected?
Affected versions include releases prior to current release patches across affected packages: commons-jxpath:commons-jxpath.
What version fixes CVE-2022-41852?
Upgrading to current release patches (or the latest patched release for your respective branch) resolves the vulnerability.
Is commons-jxpath affected?
Yes, commons-jxpath:commons-jxpath is affected in releases prior to Latest secure release. Upgrade your dependency to Latest secure release or later.
What is the CVSS score of CVE-2022-41852?
CVE-2022-41852 has a CVSS v3.1 base score of 9.8 (CRITICAL) with vector string CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:L/PR:N/UI:N/S:U/C:H/I:H/A:H.
What CWE is associated with CVE-2022-41852?
CVE-2022-41852 is classified under CWE-470: Use of Externally-Controlled Input to Select Classes or Code ('Unsafe Reflection') (The product uses external input with reflection to select which classes or code to use, but it does not sufficiently prevent the input from selecting improper classes or code.).
How can I check Maven dependencies for CVE-2022-41852?
Run the dependency tree command: 'mvn dependency:tree -Dincludes=commons-jxpath'. This command lists direct and transitive dependencies in your build configuration so you can verify if a vulnerable version is resolved.
Machine-readable OSV JSON OSV v1.5 Schema
Normalized schema output
View Raw JSON 
{
  "schema_version" : "1.4.0",
  "id" : "GHSA-wrx5-rp7m-mm49",
  "modified" : "2023-03-06T22:41:22Z",
  "published" : "2022-10-06T18:52:05Z",
  "withdrawn" : "2023-03-06T22:41:22Z",
  "aliases" : [ "CVE-2022-41852" ],
  "summary" : "Withdrawn: CVE Rejected: JXPath vulnerable to remote code execution when interpreting untrusted XPath expressions",
  "details" : "## This advisory has been withdrawn due to the CVE being rejected.\n\n## Original advisory text\nThose using JXPath to interpret untrusted XPath expressions may be vulnerable to a remote code execution attack. All JXPathContext class functions processing a XPath string are vulnerable except `compile()` and `compilePath()` function. The XPath expression can be used by an attacker to load any Java class from the classpath resulting in code execution.",
  "severity" : [ {
    "type" : "CVSS_V3",
    "score" : "CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:L/PR:N/UI:N/S:U/C:H/I:H/A:H"
  } ],
  "affected" : [ {
    "package" : {
      "ecosystem" : "Maven",
      "name" : "commons-jxpath:commons-jxpath"
    },
    "ranges" : [ {
      "type" : "ECOSYSTEM",
      "events" : [ {
        "introduced" : "0"
      }, {
        "last_affected" : "1.3"
      } ]
    } ]
  } ],
  "references" : [ {
    "type" : "ADVISORY",
    "url" : "https://nvd.nist.gov/vuln/detail/CVE-2022-41852"
  }, {
    "type" : "WEB",
    "url" : "https://bugs.chromium.org/p/oss-fuzz/issues/detail?id=47133"
  }, {
    "type" : "WEB",
    "url" : "https://commons.apache.org/proper/commons-jxpath/users-guide.html#Standard_Extension_Functions"
  }, {
    "type" : "PACKAGE",
    "url" : "https://github.com/apache/commons-jxpath"
  }, {
    "type" : "WEB",
    "url" : "https://hackinglab.cz/en/blog/remote-code-execution-in-jxpath-library-cve-2022-41852"
  } ],
  "database_specific" : {
    "cwe_ids" : [ "CWE-470" ],
    "severity" : "CRITICAL",
    "github_reviewed" : true,
    "github_reviewed_at" : "2022-10-06T20:35:33Z",
    "nvd_published_at" : "2022-10-06T18:17:00Z"
  }
}