CVE-2022-31814 is a critical-severity (CVSS 9.8) OS Command Injection vulnerability in netgate pfblockerng. 11 public exploit references exist, so weaponization risk is real. No vendor fix is recorded yet; mitigation options are listed below.
pfSense pfBlockerNG through 2.1.4_26 allows remote attackers to execute arbitrary OS commands as root via shell metacharacters in the HTTP Host header. NOTE: 3.x is unaffected.
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.
- CISA assesses this as automatable — exploitation doesn’t require manual, per-target effort, which raises the odds of mass scanning and opportunistic attacks.
- 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-2022-31814.
EPSS Exploitation Probability
Probability of exploitation in the next 30 days, from FIRST.org EPSS.
How urgent is this, really
CVE-2022-31814 by exploitation likelihood (EPSS) against impact (CVSS). In the shaded patch-first corner (EPSS 50%+, CVSS 7.0+).
Where this sits among everything scored
Of 390,400 CVEs with a current EPSS score, this one falls in the ≥ 90% band (highlighted). Counts from FIRST.org, log-scaled.
Description
pfSense pfBlockerNG through 2.1.4_26 allows remote attackers to execute arbitrary OS commands as root via shell metacharacters in the HTTP Host header. NOTE: 3.x is unaffected.
Affected Products
pfblockerngnetgateResearch use only. For defensive security, authorized penetration testing, and academic research only. Never execute exploit code against systems without explicit written authorization.
pfBlockerNG 2.1.4_26 - Remote Code Execution (RCE)
by IHTeam · Feb 20, 2023
Detection & mitigation playbook
Vendor / applianceDetect
Inventory every netgate pfblockerng deployment and check each version against the affected-products list above.
Remediation status
No patch has shipped for CVE-2022-31814 yet — track the netgate pfblockerng advisory for a fixed release and apply the workarounds below in the meantime.
Mitigate without a patch
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. Alongside that, restrict the management interface to trusted networks and apply the vendor's recommended configuration mitigations.
How to detect CVE-2022-31814
A community-maintained Nuclei template exists for this CVE. You can scan for it directly:
nuclei -id cve-2022-31814 -u https://target- Template
- pfSense pfBlockerNG <=2.1..4_26 - OS Command Injection
- Severity
- critical
- Impact
- Successful exploitation of this vulnerability allows remote attackers to execute arbitrary commands on the affected system.
- Remediation
- Upgrade to a patched version of pfSense pfBlockerNG (>=2.1..4_27) to mitigate this vulnerability.
Template by ProjectDiscovery nuclei-templates (EvergreenCartoons), MIT licensed. View the full template. Scan only systems you are authorised to test.
Frequently Asked Questions
Is CVE-2022-31814 being exploited in your environment?
Detect and block the exploit chain at execution, on systems you cannot patch yet.