CVE-2022-4065 is a medium-severity (CVSS 5.5) Path Traversal vulnerability in org.testng:testng. 1 public exploit or proof-of-concept reference is indexed, so weaponization risk is real. A fix is available for org.testng:testng — see the affected versions and patch details below.
cbeust testng XML File Parser JarFileUtils.java testngXmlExistsInJar path traversal
EPSS Exploitation Probability
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
org.testng:testng☕org.testng:testngReal-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
Affected by this vulnerability is the function testngXmlExistsInJar of the file testng-core/src/main/java/org/testng/JarFileUtils.java of the component XML File Parser.
The manipulation leads to path traversal only for .xml, .yaml and .yml files by default. The attack implies running an unsafe test JAR. However since that JAR can also contain executable code itself, the path traversal is unlikely to be the main attack.
Patches
A patch is available in version 7.7.0 at commit 9150736cd2c123a6a3b60e6193630859f9f0422b. It is recommended to apply a patch to fix this issue. The patch was pushed into the master branch but no releases have yet been made with the patch included.
A backport of the fix is available in [version 7.5.1]((https://github.com/cbeust/testng/releases/tag/7.5.1) for Java 8 projects.
Workaround
- Specify which tests to run when invoking TestNG by configuring them on the CLI or in the build tool controlling the run.
- Do not run tests with untrusted JARs on the classpath, this includes pull requests on open source projects.
Affected Packages
| Ecosystem | Package | Vulnerable range | Fix |
|---|---|---|---|
| ☕Maven | org.testng:testng | ≥ 6.13&&< 7.5.1 | 7.5.1org.testng:testng:7.5.1 |
| ☕Maven | org.testng:testng | ≥ 7.6.0&&< 7.7.0 | 7.7.0org.testng:testng:7.7.0 |
Affected Products
testngtestng_projectResearch use only. For defensive security, authorized penetration testing, and academic research only. Never execute exploit code against systems without explicit written authorization.
Detection & mitigation playbook
Open-source dependencyDetect
Scan your dependency tree (package-lock.json, pnpm-lock.yaml, requirements.txt, go.sum, etc.) for org.testng:testng, including transitive dependencies — a direct dependency you never call can still pull in a vulnerable version.
Fix
Update org.testng:testng to 7.5.1 or later, then make sure no transitive (indirect) dependency still pins the vulnerable range — O3 confirms CVE-2022-4065 is resolved across your whole dependency graph.
Workarounds
Resolve every user-supplied path to its canonical form and reject anything that escapes the intended directory, and run the component under an account that has no read or write access outside the directory it legitimately serves.
Frequently Asked Questions
Is CVE-2022-4065 in your dependencies?
Find it across Maven, including transitive dependencies.