CVE-2022-45442 is a high-severity (CVSS 8.8) CWE-494 vulnerability in sinatra. 1 public exploit reference exists, so weaponization risk is real. O3 Security confirms whether CVE-2022-45442 is actually reachable in your code before you act, and blocks exploitation at runtime until you patch.
Sinatra vulnerable to Reflected File Download attack
Real-World Exposure
sinatra💎sinatraReal-time download stats are indexed for npm and PyPI packages. This vulnerability affects RubyGems packages — download data is not available via public APIs for these ecosystems.
Description
Sinatra is a domain-specific language for creating web applications in Ruby. An issue was discovered in Sinatra 2.0 before 2.2.3 and 3.0 before 3.0.4. An application is vulnerable to a reflected file download (RFD) attack that sets the Content-Disposition header of a response when the filename is derived from user-supplied input. Version 2.2.3 and 3.0.4 contain patches for this issue.
Affected Packages
| Ecosystem | Package | Vulnerable range | Fix |
|---|---|---|---|
| 💎RubyGems | sinatra | ≥ 3.0&&< 3.0.4 | 3.0.4 |
| 💎RubyGems | sinatra | ≥ 2.0.0&&< 2.2.3 | 2.2.3 |
Research 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 sinatra. O3's reachability analysis confirms whether the vulnerable code path is actually invoked in your application, so you act on real exposure instead of every transitive match.
Fix
Update sinatra to 3.0.4 or later, then make sure no transitive (indirect) dependency still pins the vulnerable range — O3 confirms CVE-2022-45442 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 pinpoints whether CVE-2022-45442 is reachable in your code and exactly where to fix it, then blocks exploitation in production at runtime until the patched version is deployed.
Tailored to CVE-2022-45442. 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-2022-45442 in your dependencies?
O3 detects CVE-2022-45442 across RubyGems dependencies and uses function-level reachability to confirm whether the vulnerable code path is actually reachable — not just present. No false positives.