CVE-2022-31194 is a high-severity (CVSS 8.2) vulnerability in org.dspace:dspace-jspui. A fix is available for org.dspace:dspace-jspui — see the affected versions and patch details below.
Path traversal vulnerabilities in DSpace JSPUI submission upload
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-2022-31194 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 378,567 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
org.dspace:dspace-jspui☕org.dspace:dspace-jspuiReal-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 JSPUI resumable upload implementations in SubmissionController and FileUploadRequest are vulnerable to multiple path traversal attacks, allowing an attacker to create files/directories anywhere on the server writable by the Tomcat/DSpace user, by modifying some request parameters during submission. This path traversal can only be executed by a user with special privileges (submitter rights). This vulnerability only impacts the JSPUI.
This vulnerability does NOT impact the XMLUI or 7.x.
Patches
DSpace 6.x:
- Fixed in 6.4 via commit: https://github.com/DSpace/DSpace/commit/7569c6374aefeafb996e202cf8d631020eda5f24
- 6.x patch file: https://github.com/DSpace/DSpace/commit/7569c6374aefeafb996e202cf8d631020eda5f24.patch (may be applied manually if an immediate upgrade to 6.4 or above is not possible)
DSpace 5.x:
- Fixed in 5.11 via commit: https://github.com/DSpace/DSpace/commit/d1dd7d23329ef055069759df15cfa200c8e3
- 5.x patch file: https://github.com/DSpace/DSpace/commit/d1dd7d23329ef055069759df15cfa200c8e3.patch (may be applied manually if an immediate upgrade to 5.11 or 6.4 is not possible)
Apply the patch to your DSpace
If at all possible, we recommend upgrading your DSpace site based on the upgrade instructions. However, if you are unable to do so, you can manually apply the above patches as follows:
- Download the appropriate patch file to the machine where DSpace is running
- From the
[dspace-src]folder, apply the patch, e.g.git apply [name-of-file].patch - Now, update your DSpace site (based loosely on the Upgrade instructions). This generally involves three steps:
- Rebuild DSpace, e.g.
mvn -U clean package(This will recompile all DSpace code) - Redeploy DSpace, e.g.
ant update(This will copy all updated WARs / configs to your installation directory). Depending on your setup you also may need to copy the updated WARs over to your Tomcat webapps folder. - Restart Tomcat
- Rebuild DSpace, e.g.
Workarounds
There are no known workarounds. However, this vulnerability cannot be exploited by an anonymous user or a basic user. The user must first have submitter privileges to at least one Collection and be able to determine how to modify the request parameters to exploit the vulnerability.
References
Discovered & reported by Johannes Moritz of Ripstech
For more information
If you have any questions or comments about this advisory:
- Email us at [email protected]
Affected Packages
| Ecosystem | Package | Vulnerable range | Fix |
|---|---|---|---|
| ☕Maven | org.dspace:dspace-jspui | ≥ 4.0&&< 5.11 | 5.11org.dspace:dspace-jspui:5.11 |
| ☕Maven | org.dspace:dspace-jspui | ≥ 6.0&&< 6.4 | 6.4org.dspace:dspace-jspui:6.4 |
Detection & mitigation playbook
Open-source dependencyDetect
Scan your dependency tree (package-lock.json, pnpm-lock.yaml, requirements.txt, go.sum, etc.) for org.dspace:dspace-jspui, including transitive dependencies — a direct dependency you never call can still pull in a vulnerable version.
Fix
Update org.dspace:dspace-jspui to 5.11 or later, then make sure no transitive (indirect) dependency still pins the vulnerable range — O3 confirms CVE-2022-31194 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-2022-31194 can be triaged on real exposure rather than presence alone.
Tailored to CVE-2022-31194. 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-2022-31194 in your dependencies?
O3 Security finds CVE-2022-31194 across Maven dependencies, including transitive ones, and its impact-aware SCA ranks findings by whether your code actually calls the vulnerable path.