How severe is CVE-2022-23457?

CVE-2022-23457 has a CVSS score of 7.5/10, rated HIGH. Immediate patching is strongly recommended.

Which packages are affected by CVE-2022-23457?

CVE-2022-23457 affects the following packages: org.owasp.esapi:esapi (Maven). Ecosystems affected: Maven.

How do I fix CVE-2022-23457?

Update org.owasp.esapi:esapi to 2.3.0.0 or later, then make sure no transitive (indirect) dependency still pins the vulnerable range — O3 confirms CVE-2022-23457 is resolved across your whole dependency graph.

How do I detect CVE-2022-23457 in my Maven dependencies?

Scan your dependency tree (package-lock.json, pnpm-lock.yaml, requirements.txt, go.sum, etc.) for org.owasp.esapi:esapi, including transitive dependencies — a direct dependency you never call can still pull in a vulnerable version.

How do I mitigate CVE-2022-23457 if there is no patch (or I can't update yet)?

Resolve every user-supplied path to its canonical form and reject anything that escapes the intended directory, and run the component under an account that has no read or write access outside the directory it legitimately serves.

Is CVE-2022-23457 actively exploited in the wild?

Yes. There are 1 known exploit references for CVE-2022-23457, including 1 in-the-wild exploitation observed on GitHub and other sources. Treat this as actively exploitable and prioritize patching immediately. All exploit code should only be run in an isolated sandbox environment for research or authorized testing — never against production systems without explicit written authorization.

What is the EPSS score for CVE-2022-23457?

CVE-2022-23457 has an EPSS (Exploit Prediction Scoring System) score of 2.8%, placing it in the 87th percentile of all CVEs. EPSS is maintained by FIRST.org and estimates the probability that a vulnerability will be exploited in the wild within the next 30 days. This score indicates relatively lower exploitation probability, though the CVSS severity should still guide your patching priority.

What type of vulnerability is CVE-2022-23457?

CVE-2022-23457 is classified as Path Traversal (CWE-22). This weakness type describe the underlying flaw category, which helps determine the potential impact and the right class of mitigation. This is a high-impact weakness class that often enables remote code execution or data exposure.

When was CVE-2022-23457 published, and has it been updated?

CVE-2022-23457 was published on April 25, 2022 and was last updated on October 28, 2026. Advisory data evolves as severity scores, affected ranges, and exploit intelligence are revised — always check the latest version of the advisory before acting.

☕

☕ Maven

Not in CISA KEV

HIGH severity

CVE-2022-23457 — esapi

HIGHFix: ESAPI/esapi-java-legacy@a0d67b7

CVE-2022-23457 is a high-severity (CVSS 7.5) Path Traversal vulnerability in org.owasp.esapi:esapi. 1 public exploit or proof-of-concept reference is indexed, so weaponization risk is real. A fix is available for org.owasp.esapi:esapi — see the affected versions and patch details below.

Path Traversal in ESAPI

Also known asGHSA-8m5h-hrqm-pxm2

Published

Apr 25, 2022

Updated

Oct 28, 2026

Affected

1 pkg

Patched

1 / 1

Exploits

1 known

Exploitation data as of Nov 9, 2026 · OSV.dev, NVD, FIRST.org (EPSS)

Exploitation Status

Proof-of-concept exploit code exists

CISA’s SSVC triage found public proof-of-concept exploit code for this CVE, though no confirmed active exploitation.
A successful exploit gives an attacker total control of the affected component, not partial access.

Exploitation and automatability from CISA’s SSVC triage for CVE-2022-23457.

EPSS Exploitation Probability

via FIRST.org ↗

2.8%probability of exploitation in next 30 days

Lower Risk0.00%

Lower risk than most CVEs87th percentile — riskier than 87% of all scored CVEsHighest risk

Probability of exploitation in the next 30 days, from FIRST.org EPSS.

How urgent is this, really

Where this sits among everything scored

Real-World Exposure

1 pkg affected

☕org.owasp.esapi:esapi

Real-time download stats are indexed for npm and PyPI packages. This vulnerability affects Maven packages — download data is not available via public APIs for these ecosystems.

Description

Impact

The default implementation of Validator.getValidDirectoryPath(String, String, File, boolean) may incorrectly treat the tested input string as a child of the specified parent directory. This potentially could allow control-flow bypass checks to be defeated if an attack can specify the entire string representing the 'input' path.

Patches

This vulnerability is patched in release 2.3.0.0 of ESAPI. See https://github.com/ESAPI/esapi-java-legacy/releases/tag/esapi-2.3.0.0 for details.

Workarounds

Yes; in theory, one could write the own implementation of the Validator interface. This would most easily be done by sub-classing a version of the affected DefaultValidator class and then overriding the affected getValidDirectoryPath() to correct the issue. However, this is not recommended.

For more information

If you have any questions or comments about this advisory:

Email one of the project co-leaders. See email addresses listed on the OWASP ESAPI wiki page, under "Leaders".
Send email to one of the two ESAPI related Google Groups listed under Where to Find More Information on ESAPI on our README.md page.

Affected Packages

1 total 1 fixed

Ecosystem	Package	Vulnerable range	Fix
☕Maven	`org.owasp.esapi:esapi`	all versions	2.3.0.0`org.owasp.esapi:esapi:2.3.0.0`

Affected Products

4 products · 8 configurations

Application

active iq unified managernetapp

all

Application

oncommand workflow automationnetapp

all

Application

weblogic serveroracle

3 versions

12.2.1.3.012.2.1.4.014.1.1.0.0

Application

enterprise security apiowasp

< 2.3.0.0

range

Exploits & PoCs

Research use only. For defensive security, authorized penetration testing, and academic research only. Never execute exploit code against systems without explicit written authorization.

ESAPI (The OWASP Enterprise Security API) is a free, open source, web ap…

securitylab.github.comNVDMay 2022

Detection & mitigation playbook

Open-source dependency

Detect
Scan your dependency tree (package-lock.json, pnpm-lock.yaml, requirements.txt, go.sum, etc.) for org.owasp.esapi:esapi, including transitive dependencies — a direct dependency you never call can still pull in a vulnerable version.
Fix
Update org.owasp.esapi:esapi to 2.3.0.0 or later, then make sure no transitive (indirect) dependency still pins the vulnerable range — O3 confirms CVE-2022-23457 is resolved across your whole dependency graph.
Workarounds
Resolve every user-supplied path to its canonical form and reject anything that escapes the intended directory, and run the component under an account that has no read or write access outside the directory it legitimately serves.

Frequently Asked Questions

### Impact The default implementation of `Validator.getValidDirectoryPath(String, String, File, boolean)` may incorrectly treat the tested input string as a child of the specified parent directory. This potentially could allow control-flow bypass checks to be defeated if an attack can specify the entire string representing the 'input' path. ### Patches This vulnerability is patched in release 2.3.0.0 of ESAPI. See https://github.com/ESAPI/esapi-java-legacy/releases/tag/esapi-2.3.0.0 for details. ### Workarounds Yes; in theory, one _could_ write the own implementation of the Validator interfa