How severe is CVE-2022-29173?

CVE-2022-29173 has a CVSS score of 8/10, rated HIGH. Immediate patching is strongly recommended.

Which packages are affected by CVE-2022-29173?

CVE-2022-29173 affects the following packages: github.com/theupdateframework/go-tuf (Go). Ecosystems affected: Go.

How do I fix CVE-2022-29173?

Update github.com/theupdateframework/go-tuf to 0.3.0 or later, then make sure no transitive (indirect) dependency still pins the vulnerable range — O3 confirms CVE-2022-29173 is resolved across your whole dependency graph.

How do I detect CVE-2022-29173 in my Go dependencies?

Scan your dependency tree (package-lock.json, pnpm-lock.yaml, requirements.txt, go.sum, etc.) for github.com/theupdateframework/go-tuf, including transitive dependencies — a direct dependency you never call can still pull in a vulnerable version.

How do I mitigate CVE-2022-29173 if there is no patch (or I can't update yet)?

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.

Is CVE-2022-29173 actively exploited in the wild?

No public exploit code has been indexed for CVE-2022-29173 yet. This does not mean the vulnerability cannot be exploited — absence of public exploits does not imply safety. Apply the recommended fix and use O3 Security to monitor your exposure.

What is the EPSS score for CVE-2022-29173?

CVE-2022-29173 has an EPSS (Exploit Prediction Scoring System) score of 0.6%, placing it in the 47th 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-2022-29173?

CVE-2022-29173 is classified as CWE-354 (CWE-354). This weakness type describe the underlying flaw category, which helps determine the potential impact and the right class of mitigation.

When was CVE-2022-29173 published, and has it been updated?

CVE-2022-29173 was published on May 5, 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.

🐹

🐹 Go

Not in CISA KEV

HIGH severity

CVE-2022-29173 — go-tuf

HIGHFix: theupdateframework/go-tuf@ed6788e

CVE-2022-29173 is a high-severity (CVSS 8) CWE-354 vulnerability in github.com/theupdateframework/go-tuf. A fix is available for github.com/theupdateframework/go-tuf — see the affected versions and patch details below.

No protection against rollback attacks in go-tuf

Also known asGHSA-66x3-6cw3-v5gjGO-2022-0444

Published

May 5, 2022

Updated

Oct 28, 2026

Affected

1 pkg

Patched

1 / 1

Exploits

None indexed

Exploitation data as of Nov 4, 2026 · OSV.dev, NVD, FIRST.org (EPSS)

Exploitation Status

No confirmed exploitation observed yet

A successful exploit gives an attacker total control of the affected component, not partial access.
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-2022-29173.

EPSS Exploitation Probability

via FIRST.org ↗

0.6%probability of exploitation in next 30 days

Lower Risk0.00%

Lower risk than most CVEs47th percentile — riskier than 47% 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

🐹github.com/theupdateframework/go-tuf

Real-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

Impact

go-tuf does not correctly implement the client workflow for updating the metadata files for roles other than the root role. Specifically, checks for rollback attacks are not implemented correctly meaning an attacker can cause clients to install software that is older than the software which the client previously knew to be available, and may include software with known vulnerabilities.

In more detail, the client code of go-tuf has several issues in regards to preventing rollback attacks:

It does not take into account the content of any previously trusted metadata, if available, before proceeding with updating roles other than the root role (i.e., steps 5.4.3.1 and 5.5.5 of the detailed client workflow). This means that any form of version verification done on the newly-downloaded metadata is made using the default value of zero, which always passes.
For both timestamp and snapshot roles, go-tuf saves these metadata files as trusted before verifying if the version of the metafiles they refer to is correct (i.e., steps 5.5.4 and 5.6.4 of the detailed client workflow).

Patches

A fix is available in version 0.3.0 or newer.

Workarounds

No workarounds are known for this issue apart from upgrading.

References

Commit resolving the issue https://github.com/theupdateframework/go-tuf/commit/ed6788e710fc3093a7ecc2d078bf734c0f200d8d
TUF specification version against which this vulnerability is observed is v.1.0.28. For more details, refer to Section 5.
Codebase that is affected is go-tuf@f0c3294f63b9145029464164f9bce49553b77cbb

For more information

If you have any questions or comments about this advisory:

Open an issue in go-tuf
Email us at TUF's mailing list
The #tuf channel on CNCF Slack.

Affected Packages

1 total 1 fixed

Ecosystem	Package	Vulnerable range	Fix
🐹Go	`github.com/theupdateframework/go-tuf`	all versions	0.3.0`go get github.com/theupdateframework/go-tuf@v0.3.0`

Affected Products

1 product · 1 configurations

Application

go-tuftheupdateframework

1 version

0.2.0

Detection & mitigation playbook

Open-source dependency

Detect
Scan your dependency tree (package-lock.json, pnpm-lock.yaml, requirements.txt, go.sum, etc.) for github.com/theupdateframework/go-tuf, including transitive dependencies — a direct dependency you never call can still pull in a vulnerable version.
Fix
Update github.com/theupdateframework/go-tuf to 0.3.0 or later, then make sure no transitive (indirect) dependency still pins the vulnerable range — O3 confirms CVE-2022-29173 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.

Fixing This On Your OS

If you run this on a Linux distribution, patch through your package manager against the distro's own security advisory below — it tracks the exact backported fix for your release, which can ship on a different timeline (and sometimes a different severity) than the upstream project.

Red HatImportant

Product	Fixed in	Advisory
RHACS-3.71-RHEL-8	`advanced-cluster-security/rhacs-docs-rhel8:3.71.0-5`	RHSA-2022:5704

Frequently Asked Questions

### Impact [go-tuf](https://github.com/theupdateframework/go-tuf) does not correctly implement the [client workflow](https://theupdateframework.github.io/specification/v1.0.28/index.html#detailed-client-workflow) for updating the metadata files for roles other than the root role. Specifically, checks for rollback attacks are not implemented correctly meaning an attacker can cause clients to install software that is older than the software which the client previously knew to be available, and may include software with known vulnerabilities. In more detail, the client code of go-tuf has severa