How severe is CVE-2022-29221?

CVE-2022-29221 has a CVSS score of 8.8/10, rated HIGH. Immediate patching is strongly recommended.

Which packages are affected by CVE-2022-29221?

CVE-2022-29221 affects the following packages: smarty/smarty (Packagist), smarty/smarty (Packagist). Ecosystems affected: Packagist.

How do I fix CVE-2022-29221?

Update smarty/smarty to 3.1.45 or later, then make sure no transitive (indirect) dependency still pins the vulnerable range — O3 confirms CVE-2022-29221 is resolved across your whole dependency graph.

How do I detect CVE-2022-29221 in my Packagist dependencies?

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

How do I mitigate CVE-2022-29221 if there is no patch (or I can't update yet)?

Stop passing untrusted input into the interpreter or shell: call the affected binary with an argument array rather than a composed command string, reject anything outside a strict allowlist of expected values, and run the component under an account that cannot reach beyond the work it legitimately does.

Is CVE-2022-29221 actively exploited in the wild?

Yes. There are 2 known exploit references for CVE-2022-29221, 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-2022-29221?

CVE-2022-29221 has an EPSS (Exploit Prediction Scoring System) score of 4.9%, placing it in the 92th 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-2022-29221?

CVE-2022-29221 is classified as Code Injection (CWE-94). 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-2022-29221 published, and has it been updated?

CVE-2022-29221 was published on May 24, 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.

🐘

🐘 Packagist

Not in CISA KEV

HIGH severity

CVE-2022-29221 — smarty

HIGHFix: smarty-php/smarty@64ad644

CVE-2022-29221 is a high-severity (CVSS 8.8) Code Injection vulnerability in smarty/smarty. 2 public exploit or proof-of-concept references are indexed, so weaponization risk is real. A fix is available for smarty/smarty — see the affected versions and patch details below.

PHP Code Injection by malicious block or filename in Smarty

Also known asGHSA-634x-pc3q-cf4c

Published

May 24, 2022

Updated

Oct 28, 2026

Affected

2 pkgs

Patched

2 / 2

Exploits

2 known

Exploitation data as of Nov 5, 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-2022-29221.

EPSS Exploitation Probability

via FIRST.org ↗

4.9%probability of exploitation in next 30 days

Lower Risk0.00%

Lower risk than most CVEs92th percentile — riskier than 92% 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

2 pkgs affected

🐘smarty/smarty🐘smarty/smarty

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

Description

Impact

Template authors could inject php code by choosing a malicous {block} name or {include} file name. Sites that cannot fully trust template authors should update asap.

Patches

Please upgrade to the most recent version of Smarty v3 or v4.

Workarounds

Is there a way for users to fix or remediate the vulnerability without upgrading?

References

Are there any links users can visit to find out more?

For more information

If you have any questions or comments about this advisory:

Open an issue in the Smarty repo

Affected Packages

2 total 2 fixed

Ecosystem	Package	Vulnerable range	Fix
🐘Packagist	`smarty/smarty`	all versions	3.1.45`composer require smarty/smarty:^3.1.45`
🐘Packagist	`smarty/smarty`	≥ 4.0.0&&< 4.1.1	4.1.1`composer require smarty/smarty:^4.1.1`

Affected Products

3 products · 7 configurations

debian linuxdebian

3 versions

9.010.011.0

fedorafedoraproject

2 versions

3637

Application

smartysmarty

≥ 4.0.0 && < 4.1.1

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.

Smarty is a template engine for PHP, facilitating the separation of pres…

github.comGithubMay 2022

Detection & mitigation playbook

Open-source dependency

Detect
Scan your dependency tree (package-lock.json, pnpm-lock.yaml, requirements.txt, go.sum, etc.) for smarty/smarty, including transitive dependencies — a direct dependency you never call can still pull in a vulnerable version.
Fix
Update smarty/smarty to 3.1.45 or later, then make sure no transitive (indirect) dependency still pins the vulnerable range — O3 confirms CVE-2022-29221 is resolved across your whole dependency graph.
Workarounds
Stop passing untrusted input into the interpreter or shell: call the affected binary with an argument array rather than a composed command string, reject anything outside a strict allowlist of expected values, and run the component under an account that cannot reach beyond the work it legitimately does.

Frequently Asked Questions

### Impact Template authors could inject php code by choosing a malicous {block} name or {include} file name. Sites that cannot fully trust template authors should update asap. ### Patches Please upgrade to the most recent version of Smarty v3 or v4. ### Workarounds _Is there a way for users to fix or remediate the vulnerability without upgrading?_ ### References _Are there any links users can visit to find out more?_ ### For more information If you have any questions or comments about this advisory: * Open an issue in [the Smarty repo](https://github.com/smarty-php/smarty)