CVE-2022-36633 is a high-severity (CVSS 8.8) OS Command Injection vulnerability in github.com/gravitational/teleport. 3 public exploit references exist, so weaponization risk is real. A fix is available for github.com/gravitational/teleport — see the affected versions and patch details below.
Improper token validation leading to code execution in Teleport
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-2022-36633 plotted by exploitation likelihood (EPSS) against impact (CVSS). The shaded corner — EPSS 50%+ and CVSS 7.0+ — is where this CVE sits: patch-first territory.
Where this sits among everything scored
Of 377,636 CVEs with a current EPSS score, this one falls in the 50–90% band (highlighted). Real counts from FIRST.org, not a sample — log-scaled since the landscape is heavily right-skewed.
Real-World Exposure
github.com/gravitational/teleport🐹github.com/gravitational/teleport🐹github.com/gravitational/teleportReal-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
Teleport 9.3.6 is vulnerable to Command injection leading to Remote Code Execution. An attacker can craft a malicious ssh agent installation link by URL encoding a bash escape with carriage return line feed. This url encoded payload can be used in place of a token and sent to a user in a social engineering attack. This is fully unauthenticated attack utilizing the trusted teleport server to deliver the payload.
Affected Packages
| Ecosystem | Package | Vulnerable range | Fix |
|---|---|---|---|
| 🐹Go | github.com/gravitational/teleport | all versions | 8.3.17go get github.com/gravitational/teleport@v8.3.17 |
| 🐹Go | github.com/gravitational/teleport | ≥ 9.0.0&&< 9.3.13 | 9.3.13go get github.com/gravitational/teleport@v9.3.13 |
| 🐹Go | github.com/gravitational/teleport | ≥ 10.0.0&&< 10.1.2 | 10.1.2go get github.com/gravitational/teleport@v10.1.2 |
Research use only. For defensive security, authorized penetration testing, and academic research only. Never execute exploit code against systems without explicit written authorization.
Teleport v10.1.1 - Remote Code Execution (RCE)
by Brandon Roach · Sep 23, 2022
Detection & mitigation playbook
Open-source dependencyDetect
Scan your dependency tree (package-lock.json, pnpm-lock.yaml, requirements.txt, go.sum, etc.) for github.com/gravitational/teleport, including transitive dependencies — a direct dependency you never call can still pull in a vulnerable version.
Fix
Update github.com/gravitational/teleport to 8.3.17 or later, then make sure no transitive (indirect) dependency still pins the vulnerable range — O3 confirms CVE-2022-36633 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-2022-36633 can be triaged on real exposure rather than presence alone.
Tailored to CVE-2022-36633. 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-2022-36633 in your dependencies?
O3 Security finds CVE-2022-36633 across Go dependencies, including transitive ones, and its impact-aware SCA ranks findings by whether your code actually calls the vulnerable path.