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Owasp Modsecurity Core Rule Set CVE-2022-39955

CRITICAL
Incorrect Authorization (CWE-863)
2022-09-20 vulnerability@ncsc.ch
9.8
CVSS 3.1 · NVD
View

Vulnerability Assessment

Weakness
CWE
OWASP Top 10:2025
A01:2025 - Broken Access Control
ASVS 5.0
V8 - Authorization Authorization logic validation
MITRE ATT&CK

1 technique across 1 tactic: Privilege Escalation

The technique list with ATT&CK links and the kill-chain view is part of the Basic plan and up.

Impact

CVSS score of 9.8 (CRITICAL). Attack characteristics: network attack vector, low complexity, no privileges required, no user interaction not required.

Exploit ScenarioDerived

A remote attacker could bypass authorization checks to access restricted resources by sending crafted requests to the affected application. No authentication is required to exploit this vulnerability.

Act Now Prioritize within 24-48h. Why: CRITICAL severity.
Patch available 1.1% exploitation probability (EPSS)

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AnalysisAI

The OWASP ModSecurity Core Rule Set (CRS) is affected by a partial rule set bypass by submitting a specially crafted HTTP Content-Type header field that indicates multiple character encoding schemes. Rated critical severity (CVSS 9.8), this vulnerability is remotely exploitable, no authentication required, low attack complexity. This Incorrect Authorization vulnerability could allow attackers to bypass authorization checks to access restricted resources.

RemediationAI

A vendor patch is available. Apply the latest security update as soon as possible. Review and test authorization logic, implement consistent access control checks, use centralized authorization framework.

Affects your stack

Find out whether the stacks and servers you run are on an affected version.

Checking this CVE against your own stacks and servers is part of the Basic plan and up.

Technical ContextAI · show details

This vulnerability is classified as Incorrect Authorization (CWE-863), which allows attackers to bypass authorization checks to access restricted resources. The OWASP ModSecurity Core Rule Set (CRS) is affected by a partial rule set bypass by submitting a specially crafted HTTP Content-Type header field that indicates multiple character encoding schemes. A vulnerable back-end can potentially be exploited by declaring multiple Content-Type "charset" names and therefore bypassing the configurable CRS Content-Type header "charset" allow list. An encoded payload can bypass CRS detection this way and may then be decoded by the backend. The legacy CRS versions 3.0.x and 3.1.x are affected, as well as the currently supported versions 3.2.1 and 3.3.2. Integrators and users are advised to upgrade to 3.2.2 and 3.3.3 respectively. Affected products include: Owasp Owasp Modsecurity Core Rule Set, Fedoraproject Fedora, Debian Debian Linux.

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  • Exploit and PoC references, threat intelligence from 22 sources

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Severity by source

NVD PRIMARY 9.8 CRITICAL
AV:N/AC:L/PR:N/UI:N/S:U/C:H/I:H/A:H

Primary rating from NVD · only source for this CVE.

CVSS VectorNVD

Attack Vector
Network
Attack Complexity
Low
Privileges Required
None
User Interaction
None
Scope
Unchanged
Confidentiality
High
Integrity
High
Availability
High

DescriptionNVD

The OWASP ModSecurity Core Rule Set (CRS) is affected by a partial rule set bypass by submitting a specially crafted HTTP Content-Type header field that indicates multiple character encoding schemes. A vulnerable back-end can potentially be exploited by declaring multiple Content-Type "charset" names and therefore bypassing the configurable CRS Content-Type header "charset" allow list. An encoded payload can bypass CRS detection this way and may then be decoded by the backend. The legacy CRS versions 3.0.x and 3.1.x are affected, as well as the currently supported versions 3.2.1 and 3.3.2. Integrators and users are advised to upgrade to 3.2.2 and 3.3.3 respectively.

Threat Intelligence Overview

EPSS Score
1.1%
Top 38% exploitable
Data Quality
2 sources
Confidence: Low

How this decision was reached

The engine reads each signal below and applies a fixed list of rules from top to bottom. The first rule that matches sets the recommended action – like a statement, every line is shown.

SignalValue
Severity CRITICAL
CISA KEV No
Public POC No
EPSS 1.1%
Patch available Yes
Active threat No
Deciding rule
CRITICAL severity
What every action level means
Emergency Immediate action required. Criteria: CRITICAL + in CISA KEV (actively exploited) without patch, OR CRITICAL + EPSS > 30% without patch, OR CRITICAL + active threat signals without patch.
Act Now Prioritize within 24-48h. Criteria: in KEV with patch available, OR CRITICAL + public POC, OR HIGH + EPSS > 10%, OR CRITICAL + active threat, OR any CRITICAL severity.
This Week Schedule remediation this week. Criteria: HIGH severity (CVSS 7.0-8.9). Patch within normal change window.
This Month Plan within 30 days. Criteria: MEDIUM severity (CVSS 4.0-6.9), lower exploitation probability. Include in regular patch cycle.
Monitor Track and reassess. Criteria: LOW severity (CVSS 0.1-3.9), minimal exploitation risk. No immediate action needed.

SSVC AssessmentENISA

SSVC Decision· derived
Scheduled
Exploitation· derived
None
System Exposure· derived
Open
Automatable· derived
Yes
Human Impact· derived
Medium

Priority Score

50
Low Medium High Critical
KEV: 0
EPSS: +1
CVSS: +49
PoC: 0
Weaponized: 0
Threat intel: 0
Gov advisory: 0

Attack Technique

Authentication bypass attacks exploit flaws in the verification mechanisms that control access to systems and applications.

Affected Products (CPE)NVD

cpe:2.3:a:owasp:owasp_modsecurity_core_rule_set:*:*:*:*:*:*:*:*
cpe:2.3:a:owasp:owasp_modsecurity_core_rule_set:*:*:*:*:*:*:*:*
cpe:2.3:o:fedoraproject:fedora:35:*:*:*:*:*:*:*
cpe:2.3:o:fedoraproject:fedora:36:*:*:*:*:*:*:*
cpe:2.3:o:fedoraproject:fedora:37:*:*:*:*:*:*:*
cpe:2.3:o:debian:debian_linux:10.0:*:*:*:*:*:*:*
CVE-2021-35368 CRITICAL POC
9.8 Nov 05

OWASP ModSecurity Core Rule Set 3.1.x before 3.1.2, 3.2.x before 3.2.1, and 3.3.x before 3.3.2 is affected by a Request

CVE-2026-21876 CRITICAL POC
9.3 Jan 08

OWASP Core Rule Set (CRS) before 4.22.0 and 3.3.8 has a bug in rule 922110 that allows WAF bypass on multipart requests.

CVE-2019-13464 HIGH POC
7.5 Jul 09

An issue was discovered in OWASP ModSecurity Core Rule Set (CRS) 3.0.2. Rated high severity (CVSS 7.5), this vulnerabili

CVE-2018-16384 HIGH POC
7.5 Sep 03

A SQL injection bypass (aka PL1 bypass) exists in OWASP ModSecurity Core Rule Set (owasp-modsecurity-crs) through v3.1.0

CVE-2022-39956 CRITICAL
9.8 Sep 20

The OWASP ModSecurity Core Rule Set (CRS) is affected by a partial rule set bypass for HTTP multipart requests by submit

CVE-2019-11391 MEDIUM POC
5.3 Apr 21

An issue was discovered in OWASP ModSecurity Core Rule Set (CRS) through 3.1.0. Rated medium severity (CVSS 5.3), this v

CVE-2019-11390 MEDIUM POC
5.3 Apr 21

An issue was discovered in OWASP ModSecurity Core Rule Set (CRS) through 3.1.0. Rated medium severity (CVSS 5.3), this v

CVE-2019-11389 MEDIUM POC
5.3 Apr 21

An issue was discovered in OWASP ModSecurity Core Rule Set (CRS) through 3.1.0. Rated medium severity (CVSS 5.3), this v

CVE-2019-11388 MEDIUM POC
5.3 Apr 21

An issue was discovered in OWASP ModSecurity Core Rule Set (CRS) through 3.1.0. Rated medium severity (CVSS 5.3), this v

CVE-2022-39958 HIGH
7.5 Sep 20

The OWASP ModSecurity Core Rule Set (CRS) is affected by a response body bypass to sequentially exfiltrate small and und

CVE-2022-39957 HIGH
7.5 Sep 20

The OWASP ModSecurity Core Rule Set (CRS) is affected by a response body bypass. Rated high severity (CVSS 7.5), this vu

CVE-2019-11387 MEDIUM
5.3 Apr 21

An issue was discovered in OWASP ModSecurity Core Rule Set (CRS) through 3.1.0. Rated medium severity (CVSS 5.3), this v

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