CVE-2022-4742 is a medium-severity (CVSS 6.3) CWE-1321 vulnerability in json-pointer. A fix is available for json-pointer — see the affected versions and patch details below.
json-pointer index.js set prototype pollution
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-2022-4742 plotted by exploitation likelihood (EPSS) against impact (CVSS). The shaded corner — EPSS 50%+ and CVSS 7.0+ — is where this CVE doesn't sit, though severity or exploitability alone can still warrant action.
Where this sits among everything scored
Of 378,156 CVEs with a current EPSS score, this one falls in the < 10% band (highlighted). Real counts from FIRST.org, not a sample — log-scaled since the landscape is heavily right-skewed.
Real-World Exposure
How broadly this vulnerability is actually deployed: weekly install volume shows current usage, and reverse-dependency count shows how many other packages break if it stays unpatched.
json-pointernpmDescription
A vulnerability, which was classified as critical, has been found in json-pointer up to 0.6.1. Affected by this issue is the function set of the file index.js. The manipulation leads to improperly controlled modification of object prototype attributes ('prototype pollution'). The attack may be launched remotely. Upgrading to version 0.6.2 is able to address this issue. The patch is identified as 859c9984b6c407fc2d5a0a7e47c7274daa681941. It is recommended to upgrade the affected component. VDB-216794 is the identifier assigned to this vulnerability.
Affected Packages
| Ecosystem | Package | Vulnerable range | Fix |
|---|---|---|---|
| 📦npm | json-pointer | all versions | 0.6.2npm install json-pointer@0.6.2 |
Detection & mitigation playbook
Open-source dependencyDetect
Scan your dependency tree (package-lock.json, pnpm-lock.yaml, requirements.txt, go.sum, etc.) for json-pointer, including transitive dependencies — a direct dependency you never call can still pull in a vulnerable version.
Fix
Update json-pointer to 0.6.2 or later, then make sure no transitive (indirect) dependency still pins the vulnerable range — O3 confirms CVE-2022-4742 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-2022-4742 can be triaged on real exposure rather than presence alone.
Tailored to CVE-2022-4742. Runtime protection reduces exposure until a permanent patch is applied and verified — it complements patching, it doesn't replace it.
Fixing This On Your OS
If you run this on a Linux distribution, patch through your package manager against the distro's own security advisory below — it tracks the exact backported fix for your release, which can ship on a different timeline (and sometimes a different severity) than the upstream project.
The json-pointer is a transitive dependency and is not used directly in any of the Red Hat products. Hence, the impact is set to Moderate.
| Product | Fixed in | Advisory |
|---|---|---|
| RHINT Service Registry 2.4.3 GA | json-pointer | RHSA-2023:3815 |
Frequently Asked Questions
Is CVE-2022-4742 in your dependencies?
O3 Security finds CVE-2022-4742 across npm dependencies, including transitive ones, and its impact-aware SCA ranks findings by whether your code actually calls the vulnerable path.