CVE-2022-23536 — cortex
MEDIUMCVE-2022-23536 is a medium-severity (CVSS 6.5) CWE-73 vulnerability in github.com/cortexproject/cortex. A fix is available for github.com/cortexproject/cortex — see the affected versions and patch details below.
Alertmanager can expose local files content via specially crafted config
Exploitation Status
No confirmed exploitation observed yet
- CISA’s own triage has not observed active exploitation or public proof-of-concept code for this CVE as of its last assessment.
Exploitation and automatability from CISA’s SSVC triage for CVE-2022-23536.
EPSS Exploitation Probability
EPSS (Exploit Prediction Scoring System) is a daily probability model maintained by FIRST.org. It estimates the likelihood a CVE will be exploited in production environments within the next 30 days, derived from real-world threat intelligence signals.
How urgent is this, really
CVE-2022-23536 plotted by exploitation likelihood (EPSS) against impact (CVSS). The shaded corner — EPSS 50%+ and CVSS 7.0+ — is where this CVE doesn't sit, though severity or exploitability alone can still warrant action.
Where this sits among everything scored
Of 377,166 CVEs with a current EPSS score, this one falls in the < 10% band (highlighted). Real counts from FIRST.org, not a sample — log-scaled since the landscape is heavily right-skewed.
Real-World Exposure
github.com/cortexproject/cortex🐹github.com/cortexproject/cortexReal-time download stats are indexed for npm and PyPI packages. This vulnerability affects Go packages — download data is not available via public APIs for these ecosystems.
Description
Cortex provides multi-tenant, long term storage for Prometheus. A local file inclusion vulnerability exists in Cortex versions 1.13.0, 1.13.1 and 1.14.0, where a malicious actor could remotely read local files as a result of parsing maliciously crafted Alertmanager configurations when submitted to the Alertmanager Set Configuration API. Only users of the Alertmanager service where -experimental.alertmanager.enable-api or enable_api: true is configured are affected. Affected Cortex users are advised to upgrade to patched versions 1.13.2 or 1.14.1. However as a workaround, Cortex administrators may reject Alertmanager configurations containing the api_key_file setting in the opsgenie_configs section before sending to the Set Alertmanager Configuration API.
Affected Packages
| Ecosystem | Package | Vulnerable range | Fix |
|---|---|---|---|
| 🐹Go | github.com/cortexproject/cortex | ≥ 1.14.0&&< 1.14.1 | 1.14.1go get github.com/cortexproject/cortex@v1.14.1 |
| 🐹Go | github.com/cortexproject/cortex | ≥ 1.13.0&&< 1.13.2 | 1.13.2go get github.com/cortexproject/cortex@v1.13.2 |
Detection & mitigation playbook
Open-source dependencyDetect
Scan your dependency tree (package-lock.json, pnpm-lock.yaml, requirements.txt, go.sum, etc.) for github.com/cortexproject/cortex, including transitive dependencies — a direct dependency you never call can still pull in a vulnerable version.
Fix
Update github.com/cortexproject/cortex to 1.14.1 or later, then make sure no transitive (indirect) dependency still pins the vulnerable range — O3 confirms CVE-2022-23536 is resolved across your whole dependency graph.
Workarounds
If you can't upgrade right away: gate or disable the affected feature, validate untrusted input at the boundary, and avoid passing attacker-controlled data into the vulnerable path. O3's runtime protection blocks exploitation in production as an interim safeguard until the upgrade lands.
How O3 protects you
O3 Security's impact-aware SCA analyses which vulnerable code paths your application actually calls, so a match like CVE-2022-23536 can be triaged on real exposure rather than presence alone.
Tailored to CVE-2022-23536. Runtime protection reduces exposure until a permanent patch is applied and verified — it complements patching, it doesn't replace it.
Frequently Asked Questions
Is CVE-2022-23536 in your dependencies?
O3 Security finds CVE-2022-23536 across Go dependencies, including transitive ones, and its impact-aware SCA ranks findings by whether your code actually calls the vulnerable path.