How severe is CVE-2022-42948?

CVE-2022-42948 has a CVSS score of 9.8/10, rated CRITICAL. Immediate patching is strongly recommended.

Which packages are affected by CVE-2022-42948?

Affected package information for CVE-2022-42948 is not yet fully mapped. Check the official advisory links for details.

How do I fix CVE-2022-42948?

No fixed version has been published for CVE-2022-42948 yet. Monitor the advisory for updates, apply mitigations recommended by the vendor, and use O3 Security to track when a fix becomes available in your stack.

Is CVE-2022-42948 actively exploited in the wild?

Yes. There are 1 known exploit references for CVE-2022-42948, 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-2022-42948?

CVE-2022-42948 has an EPSS (Exploit Prediction Scoring System) score of 22.1%, placing it in the 96th 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 warrants monitoring and prompt remediation.

Is CVE-2022-42948 in the CISA Known Exploited Vulnerabilities catalog?

Yes. CVE-2022-42948 (Fortra Cobalt Strike User Interface Remote Code Execution Vulnerability) was added to CISA's Known Exploited Vulnerabilities (KEV) catalog on 2023-03-30. CISA required all US federal civilian agencies to remediate this vulnerability by 2023-04-20. The required action was: Apply updates per vendor instructions. Being listed in the KEV catalog is the strongest possible confirmation of active exploitation — treat this as a critical priority.

What type of vulnerability is CVE-2022-42948?

CVE-2022-42948 is classified as CWE-116 (CWE-116). This weakness type describe the underlying flaw category, which helps determine the potential impact and the right class of mitigation.

Which products and versions are affected by CVE-2022-42948?

CVE-2022-42948 affects helpsystems cobalt strike (1 version, e.g. 4.7.1). Check the affected-products list on this page against your deployed version to confirm exposure.

When was CVE-2022-42948 published, and has it been updated?

CVE-2022-42948 was published on March 24, 2023 and was last updated on November 3, 2025. Advisory data evolves as severity scores, affected ranges, and exploit intelligence are revised — always check the latest version of the advisory before acting.

CISA KEV·Added 2023-03-30 — agencies required to remediate by 2023-04-20

CVE-2022-42948

CRITICAL

Cobalt Strike 4.7.1 fails to properly escape HTML tags when they are displayed on Swing components. By injecting crafted HTML code, it is possible to remotely execute code in the Cobalt Strike UI.

Published

Mar 24, 2023

Updated

Nov 3, 2025

Affected

0 pkgs

Patched

None yet

Exploits

1 known

EPSS Exploitation Probability

via FIRST.org ↗

22.1%probability of exploitation in next 30 days

Moderate Risk96th percentile0.00%

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.

Description

Cobalt Strike 4.7.1 fails to properly escape HTML tags when they are displayed on Swing components. By injecting crafted HTML code, it is possible to remotely execute code in the Cobalt Strike UI.

Affected Products

1 product · 1 configurations

Application

cobalt strikehelpsystems

1 version

4.7.1

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.

Cobalt Strike 4.7.1 fails to properly escape HTML tags when they are dis…

cisa.govCISAMar 2023

Frequently Asked Questions

Cobalt Strike 4.7.1 fails to properly escape HTML tags when they are displayed on Swing components. By injecting crafted HTML code, it is possible to remotely execute code in the Cobalt Strike UI.

O3 Security · Impact-Aware SCA

Is CVE-2022-42948 in your stack?

O3 detects CVE-2022-42948 across dependencies and uses function-level reachability to confirm whether the vulnerable code path is actually reachable — not just present. No false positives.

Scan my stack How O3 SCA works

CVSS Score

9.8/10

CVSS v3 base score

Vector breakdown

AV:Attack Vector

Network

AC:Attack Complexity

Low

PR:Privileges Required

None

UI:User Interaction

None

S:Scope

Unchanged

C:Confidentiality

High

I:Integrity

High

A:Availability

High

Raw vector

CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:L/PR:N/UI:N/S:U/C:H/I:H/A:H

CWE Classification

CWE-116CWE-116

Weaponization

No known public exploit tooling found.

Timeline

Disclosed

Mar 24, 2023

KEV added

Mar 30, 2023

First exploit

Mar 30, 2023

5 days after disclosure — rapid exploitation

Last updated

Nov 3, 2025

Identifiers

CVE-2022-42948

References

Advisorythesecmaster.com Advisorycobaltstrike.com Advisoryredpacketsecurity.com Advisorythesecmaster.com Advisorycobaltstrike.com Advisoryredpacketsecurity.com Webcisa.gov

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