VulnerabilityPublished 20 Sep 2022Updated 29 May 2025

CVE-2022-39955: OWASP ModSecurity Core Rule Set · Incorrect Authorization

Affects OWASP ModSecurity Core Rule SetSource CVE Database V5

Not known to be exploited · CVSS 7.3 High : upgrade to 3.2.0 or 3.1.0 soon.

Data as of 26 Oct 2026, 09:08 UTC

CVSS 3.1 base score

7.3High

How severe the flaw is on the 0–10 CVSS scale.

EPSS: 1.4% chance of exploitation in 30 days – higher than 72% of CVEsExploit Prediction Scoring System: the likelihood attackers will use this flaw soon.
Patch: Available – fixed in 3.2.0, 3.1.0

CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:L/PR:N/UI:N/S:U/C:L/I:L/A:L

Attack Vector: Network
Attack Complexity: Low
Privileges Required: None
User Interaction: None
Scope: Unchanged
Confidentiality: Low
Integrity: Low
Availability: Low

Bold values are the worst case: easiest to exploit or largest impact.

Attack Vector: Network: The vulnerable component is bound to the network stack and the set of possible attackers extends beyond the other options listed, up to and including the entire Internet. Such a vulnerability is often termed 'remotely exploitable' and can be thought of as an attack being exploitable at the protocol level one or more network hops away (e.g., across one or more routers).
Attack Complexity: Low: Specialized access conditions or extenuating circumstances do not exist. An attacker can expect repeatable success against the vulnerable component.
Privileges Required: None: The attacker is unauthorized prior to attack, and therefore does not require any access to settings or files to carry out an attack.
User Interaction: None: The vulnerable system can be exploited without any interaction from any user.
Scope: Unchanged: An exploited vulnerability can only affect resources managed by the same security authority. In this case, the vulnerable component and the impacted component are either the same, or both are managed by the same security authority.
Confidentiality: Low: There is some loss of confidentiality. Access to some restricted information is obtained, but the attacker does not have control over what information is obtained, or the amount or kind of loss is limited. The information disclosure does not cause a direct, serious loss to the impacted component.
Integrity: Low: Modification of data is possible, but the attacker does not have control over the consequence of a modification, or the amount of modification is limited. The data modification does not have a direct, serious impact on the impacted component.
Availability: Low: Performance is reduced or there are interruptions in resource availability. Even if repeated exploitation of the vulnerability is possible, the attacker does not have the ability to completely deny service to legitimate users. The resources in the impacted component are either partially available all of the time, or fully available only some of the time, but overall there is no direct, serious consequence to the impacted component.

Definitions: FIRST CVSS v3.1 specification.

Exploitation evidence

Disclosed: evidence found.
CVE published 20 Sep 2022
Detectable: no evidence on record.
No public nuclei template indexed
Weaponised: no evidence on record.
No public exploit code indexed in Metasploit or Exploit-DB
Exploited in the wildExploited: no evidence on record.
Not in CISA KEV and no source reports exploitation
Observed by OffSeq MirageSeen by Mirage: no evidence on record.
No attack traffic recorded by OffSeq Mirage sensors

A missing step is not evidence of safety. Sources: cve.org (opens in a new tab), the Metasploit, Exploit-DB and nuclei-templates index as of 26 Oct 2026.

Disclosed: The CVE record is public on cve.org. Its publication is t = 0.
Detectable: A public nuclei template can find exposed instances, for defenders and attackers alike.
Weaponised: Public exploit code exists in Metasploit or Exploit-DB, or CISA SSVC reports a public proof of concept.
Exploited in the wild: CISA KEV lists it, CISA SSVC rates exploitation active, or a source reports attacks.
Observed by OffSeq Mirage: OffSeq Mirage honeypot sensors recorded attack traffic for this CVE, or found exposed hosts without attack traffic.

Moments are spaced evenly, not to scale; a dashed line marks a gap of six months or more. Deltas count from t = 0. Sources that give only a date (CISA KEV, Exploit-DB, or a time of exactly 00:00Z) read “same day” rather than hours. Metasploit modules carry the flaw’s disclosure date, not their release date, and nuclei templates carry no date, so both appear above but not on the timeline.

What to do

Upgrade OWASP ModSecurity Core Rule Set to 3.2.0 or 3.1.0.

Affected software

Product	Affected	Fixed in
OWASP ModSecurity Core Rule Set	Affected >=3.0.0 <3.1.0 >=3.1.0 <3.2.0	Fixed in 3.1.0 3.2.0

AI-suggested

European organizations should immediately assess their use of OWASP ModSecurity CRS and identify if affected versions (3.0.x, 3.1.x, 3.2.1, 3.3.2) are deployed. The primary mitigation is to upgrade to the patched versions 3.2.2 or 3.3.3, which address the charset header parsing bypass. Additionally, organizations should implement strict input validation on backend systems to not rely solely on CRS for Content-Type charset enforcement. Web servers and application frameworks should be configured to reject or sanitize HTTP headers with multiple charset declarations. Monitoring and logging of HTTP headers for anomalies can help detect exploitation attempts. Employing defense-in-depth by combining CRS with other security controls such as runtime application self-protection (RASP) and backend validation will reduce risk. Regular vulnerability scanning and penetration testing focusing on WAF bypass techniques should be conducted. Finally, organizations should stay updated on any emerging exploit reports and apply security advisories promptly.

Description

The OWASP ModSecurity Core Rule Set (CRS) is affected by a partial rule set bypass by submitting a specially crafted HTTP Content-Type header field that indicates multiple character encoding schemes. A vulnerable back-end can potentially be exploited by declaring multiple Content-Type "charset" names and therefore bypassing the configurable CRS Content-Type header "charset" allow list. An encoded payload can bypass CRS detection this way and may then be decoded by the backend. The legacy CRS versions 3.0.x and 3.1.x are affected, as well as the currently supported versions 3.2.1 and 3.3.2. Integrators and users are advised to upgrade to 3.2.2 and 3.3.3 respectively.

Impact

For European organizations, this vulnerability poses a significant risk to web applications protected by the OWASP ModSecurity CRS, especially those using affected versions. Successful exploitation can allow attackers to bypass WAF protections, enabling injection of malicious payloads that could lead to data leakage, unauthorized access, or service disruption. This is particularly critical for sectors handling sensitive personal data under GDPR, such as finance, healthcare, and government services. The bypass could facilitate exploitation of backend vulnerabilities, leading to compromise of confidentiality and integrity of data, and potentially availability if denial-of-service or destructive payloads are delivered. Organizations relying on ModSecurity CRS as a primary defense layer may find their security posture weakened until patches are applied. The lack of required authentication and user interaction means attackers can exploit this remotely and at scale, increasing the threat surface for European enterprises.

CWE-863Incorrect Authorization (opens in a new tab)
Class weaknessLikelihood of exploit: HighCWE Top 25 (2025): #17OWASP Top 10 A01:2025: Broken Access Control (opens in a new tab)
The product performs an authorization check when an actor attempts to access a resource or perform an action, but it does not correctly perform the check.
Architecture and Design
Divide the product into anonymous, normal, privileged, and administrative areas. Reduce the attack surface by carefully mapping roles with data and functionality. Use role-based access control (RBAC) to enforce the roles at the appropriate boundaries.
Architecture and Design
Ensure that access control checks are performed related to the business logic. These checks may be different than the access control checks that are applied to more generic resources such as files, connections, processes, memory, and database records.
Architecture and Design · Libraries or Frameworks
Use a vetted library or framework that does not allow this weakness to occur or provides constructs that make this weakness easier to avoid.
OWASP Cheat Sheets
Authorization (opens in a new tab)
OWASP ASVS 4.0.3
V8.3.8 (opens in a new tab)
V13.4.2 (opens in a new tab)
V7.2.2 (opens in a new tab)
From MITRE CWE, MITRE CAPEC and OWASP (Top 10, OpenCRE).

References

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Exploitation evidence

What to do

Affected software

Description

AI analysisMachine-generated, updated 8 Jul 2025, 03:10 UTC

WeaknessesCWE-863

Technical details

References

Community reviews

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