# CVE-2022-22965: Spring - RCE

> Live exploitation tracking for CVE-2022-22965 by the CrowdSec Live Exploit Tracker, built from real-world attack data crowdsourced from CrowdSec's global network.

Page: https://tracker.crowdsec.net/cves/CVE-2022-22965

## Key facts

- **Exploitation phase:** Background Noise. Continuous low-level scanning or exploitation attempts are observed, mostly opportunistic and automated.
- **CVSS score:** 9.8
- **Public exploit available:** Yes
- **Affected products:** Spring
- **Weaknesses:** CWE-94 (Improper Control of Generation of Code ('Code Injection'))
- **Tags:** web_application, java

## Description

A Spring MVC or Spring WebFlux application running on JDK 9+ may be vulnerable to remote code execution (RCE) via data binding. The specific exploit requires the application to run on Tomcat as a WAR deployment. If the application is deployed as a Spring Boot executable jar, i.e. the default, it is not vulnerable to the exploit. However, the nature of the vulnerability is more general, and there may be other ways to exploit it.

## CrowdSec analysis

[CVE-2022-22965](https://euvd.enisa.europa.eu/vulnerability/CVE-2022-22965) is a critical remote code execution vulnerability impacting certain Spring MVC and Spring WebFlux applications through insecure data binding on Java 9 and newer environments. Applications deployed as Tomcat WAR files are particularly at risk to this type of attack.

CrowdSec has been tracking this vulnerability and its exploits since 9th of April 2022.

CrowdSec network data shows that most actors exploiting CVE-2022-22965 rely on broad, untargeted scans with minimal filtering. The activity is largely automated and opportunistic in nature.
CrowdSec data also reveals a clear uptick in attacks involving CVE-2022-22965 over the past week. Activity is above the usual baseline, suggesting growing attention from attackers. This may reflect rising awareness, recent exploit releases, or expanded targeting efforts.

Observed attacks typically attempt to exploit applications running in susceptible Java environments through maliciously crafted web requests targeting WAR deployments.

## Timeline

- 2022-04-01: CVE Published. CVE-2022-22965 is published to NVD.
- 2022-04-04: CISA KEV. CVE-2022-22965 is added to the Known Exploited Vulnerabilities catalog by CISA.
- 2022-04-09: Rule Released. CrowdSec releases a rule to detect CVE-2022-22965 exploitation attempts against the CrowdSec Network.
- 2022-04-09: CrowdSec First Seen. CrowdSec observes in-the-wild exploitation of CVE-2022-22965 for the first time.
- 2022-04-25: CISA Remediation Deadline. Expiration of the CISA remediation deadline as described in [BOD 22-01](https://www.cisa.gov/news-events/directives/bod-22-01-reducing-significant-risk-known-exploited-vulnerabilities).

## References

- https://www.oracle.com/security-alerts/cpuapr2022.html
- https://psirt.global.sonicwall.com/vuln-detail/SNWLID-2022-0005
- https://cert-portal.siemens.com/productcert/pdf/ssa-254054.pdf
- https://www.oracle.com/security-alerts/cpujul2022.html
- https://github.com/projectdiscovery/nuclei-templates/blob/main/http/cves/2022/CVE-2022-22965.yaml
- https://www.kb.cert.org/vuls/id/970766

## Live exploitation data

The [Live Exploit Tracker page](https://tracker.crowdsec.net/cves/CVE-2022-22965) follows observed exploitation activity for CVE-2022-22965. [Request an API key](https://tracker.crowdsec.net/request-api-key) for full access to its exploitation timeline, attacking IP addresses and blocklists.