CVE-2022-24828 is a medium-severity vulnerability affecting specific versions of Composer, a widely used dependency manager for PHP. The vulnerability arises from improper input validation (CWE-20) in the Composer code, specifically in the method VcsDriver::getFileContent. This method can be exploited if an attacker can control the parameters `$file` or `$identifier`. These parameters are used internally to retrieve file contents from version control systems such as Mercurial (hg) and Git. If arbitrary data is allowed in these parameters, it can lead to code injection attacks. For example, on packagist.org, the `readme` field in composer.json was identified as a potential vector for injecting parameters into Mercurial via the `$file` argument or Git via the `$identifier` argument. However, packagist.org itself does not allow arbitrary data in these fields, mitigating the risk on their platform. Composer's core code does not call `getFileContent` with arbitrary data, so the vulnerability primarily affects integrators who misuse this method or allow untrusted input to reach these parameters. The affected Composer versions include all versions below 1.10.26, versions from 2.0.0 up to but not including 2.2.12, and versions from 2.3 up to but not including 2.3.6. The vulnerability was publicly disclosed on April 13, 2022, and patches were applied promptly to packagist.org and Private Packagist within a day of the report. To date, there are no known exploits in the wild leveraging this vulnerability. The root cause is insufficient input validation, which could allow an attacker to inject malicious commands or parameters into version control system calls, potentially leading to code execution or unauthorized command execution in environments where Composer is integrated improperly or where untrusted user input is passed to these vulnerable methods.

For European organizations, the impact of this vulnerability depends largely on how Composer is integrated into their development and deployment pipelines. Organizations that use Composer internally without exposing vulnerable interfaces or that do not pass untrusted user input to the vulnerable methods are unlikely to be affected. However, companies or service providers that integrate Composer in custom tooling or platforms that allow user-supplied data to influence version control operations could face risks of code injection. This could lead to unauthorized code execution, potentially compromising the confidentiality, integrity, and availability of development environments or continuous integration/continuous deployment (CI/CD) pipelines. Since Composer is a fundamental tool in PHP development, organizations relying heavily on PHP applications, including web hosting providers, software development firms, and digital agencies, could be impacted if they use affected Composer versions and do not apply patches. The vulnerability could also affect private package repositories or internal package management solutions that have not updated to patched versions. While no active exploitation has been reported, the potential for supply chain attacks or targeted intrusions exists if attackers find vulnerable integrations. This could lead to injection of malicious code into PHP projects, affecting downstream applications and users. Given the widespread use of Composer in Europe’s software development ecosystem, especially in countries with strong IT sectors such as Germany, France, and the Netherlands, the risk is non-negligible if mitigations are not applied.

1. Immediate upgrade of Composer to a patched version: specifically, versions 1.10.26 or later, 2.2.12 or later, or 2.3.6 or later should be used. 2. Audit all custom integrations or tooling that invoke VcsDriver::getFileContent or similar methods to ensure that no untrusted or user-controlled input is passed to the `$file` or `$identifier` parameters. 3. Implement strict input validation and sanitization on any user-supplied data that could influence version control operations within Composer integrations. 4. Review and restrict access to private package repositories and internal Composer services to trusted users only, minimizing the risk of malicious package metadata injection. 5. Monitor Composer-related logs and version control system activity for unusual or unexpected commands that could indicate exploitation attempts. 6. Educate development and DevOps teams about the risks of improper input handling in dependency management tools and encourage secure coding practices. 7. For organizations running private package repositories or integrators of Composer, conduct security code reviews and penetration testing focused on dependency management workflows. 8. Consider implementing runtime application self-protection (RASP) or endpoint detection and response (EDR) solutions to detect anomalous behavior related to code injection attempts in development environments.