CVE-2022-1271 [High] | Security Vulnerability in Gzip

An arbitrary file write vulnerability was found in GNU gzip's zgrep utility. When zgrep is applied on the attacker's chosen file name (for example, a crafted file name), this can overwrite an attacker's content to an arbitrary attacker-selected file. This flaw occurs due to insufficient validation when processing filenames with two or more newlines where selected content and the target file names are embedded in crafted multi-line file names. This flaw allows a remote, low privileged attacker to force zgrep to write arbitrary files on the system.

#	Date	Old EPSS score	New EPSS score	Delta (New - Old)
1	2026-06-15	0.81%	4.30%	+3.49%
2	2026-02-07	0.72%	0.81%	+0.10%
3	2026-01-19	—	0.72%	—

Date

Old EPSS score

New EPSS score

Delta (New - Old)

2026-06-15

0.81%

4.30%

+3.49%

2026-02-07

0.72%

0.81%

+0.10%

2026-01-19

—

0.72%

—

Base score	Version	Severity	Vector	Exploitability	Impact	Score source
8.8	3.1	HIGH	`CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:L/PR:L/UI:N/S:U/C:H/I:H/A:H` Click to expand Attack vector (AV:N) Could be attacked over the internet or any normal routed network—not just someone sitting at the machine. Attack complexity (AC:L) Once they can reach the bug, pulling it off is straightforward—no weird race conditions or rare setup. Privileges required (PR:L) A normal user session is enough; they don’t have to be admin. User interaction (UI:N) Nobody has to click “OK” or open a trap file; it can work without a victim helping. Scope (S:U) Damage stays in the same “trust bubble” as the broken component—no big spill into unrelated systems. Confidentiality (C:H) Serious risk that confidential data gets exposed in a big way. Integrity (I:H) They could widely tamper with or forge data—trust in the data is badly hurt. Availability (A:H) Could take the service down hard or make it unusable for people who depend on it.	2.8	5.9	[email protected]
8.8	3.1	HIGH	`CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:L/PR:L/UI:N/S:U/C:H/I:H/A:H` Click to expand Attack vector (AV:N) Could be attacked over the internet or any normal routed network—not just someone sitting at the machine. Attack complexity (AC:L) Once they can reach the bug, pulling it off is straightforward—no weird race conditions or rare setup. Privileges required (PR:L) A normal user session is enough; they don’t have to be admin. User interaction (UI:N) Nobody has to click “OK” or open a trap file; it can work without a victim helping. Scope (S:U) Damage stays in the same “trust bubble” as the broken component—no big spill into unrelated systems. Confidentiality (C:H) Serious risk that confidential data gets exposed in a big way. Integrity (I:H) They could widely tamper with or forge data—trust in the data is badly hurt. Availability (A:H) Could take the service down hard or make it unusable for people who depend on it.	2.8	5.9	134c704f-9b21-4f2e-91b3-4a467353bcc0

Base score

Version

Severity

Vector

Exploitability

Impact

Score source

8.8

3.1

HIGH

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

Attack vector (AV:N): Could be attacked over the internet or any normal routed network—not just someone sitting at the machine.
Attack complexity (AC:L): Once they can reach the bug, pulling it off is straightforward—no weird race conditions or rare setup.
Privileges required (PR:L): A normal user session is enough; they don’t have to be admin.
User interaction (UI:N): Nobody has to click “OK” or open a trap file; it can work without a victim helping.
Scope (S:U): Damage stays in the same “trust bubble” as the broken component—no big spill into unrelated systems.
Confidentiality (C:H): Serious risk that confidential data gets exposed in a big way.
Integrity (I:H): They could widely tamper with or forge data—trust in the data is badly hurt.
Availability (A:H): Could take the service down hard or make it unusable for people who depend on it.

2.8

5.9

[email protected]

8.8

3.1

HIGH

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

Attack vector (AV:N): Could be attacked over the internet or any normal routed network—not just someone sitting at the machine.
Attack complexity (AC:L): Once they can reach the bug, pulling it off is straightforward—no weird race conditions or rare setup.
Privileges required (PR:L): A normal user session is enough; they don’t have to be admin.
User interaction (UI:N): Nobody has to click “OK” or open a trap file; it can work without a victim helping.
Scope (S:U): Damage stays in the same “trust bubble” as the broken component—no big spill into unrelated systems.
Confidentiality (C:H): Serious risk that confidential data gets exposed in a big way.
Integrity (I:H): They could widely tamper with or forge data—trust in the data is badly hurt.
Availability (A:H): Could take the service down hard or make it unusable for people who depend on it.

2.8

5.9

134c704f-9b21-4f2e-91b3-4a467353bcc0

OS Trackers for CVE-2022-1271

vendor	priority	summary	link
`alpine`	—	CVE-2022-1271: 2 source package rows (gzip, xz); 16 state rows across 8 repos (3.12-main, 3.17-main, 3.18-main, 3.19-main, 3.20-main, 3.21-main, 3.22-main, edge-main); fixed 16, open 0.	https://security.alpinelinux.org/vuln/CVE-2022-1271
`debian`	not yet assigned	CVE-2022-1271 not yet assigned priority: Debian including 2 source packages (gzip, xz-utils), 10 status rows across 5 suites (bookworm, bullseye, forky, sid, trixie): resolved 10.	https://security-tracker.debian.org/tracker/CVE-2022-1271
`gentoo`	high	CVE-2022-1271: 1 GLSA(s) (202209-01), 2 atom(s) (app-arch/gzip, app-arch/xz-utils); latest impact high.	https://bugs.gentoo.org/buglist.cgi?quicksearch=CVE-2022-1271
`redhat`	high	—	https://access.redhat.com/security/cve/CVE-2022-1271
`suse`	high	CVE-2022-1271 severity important: SUSE including 573 source package names (0.23.0.3.2.201:liblzma5-5.2.3-150000.4.7.1, 0.23.1-12.3:gzip-1.10-150200.10.1, …), 1676 product×package rows across 500 product lines (Container bci/bci-base-fips, Container bci/bci-init, … (500 product lines)): Fixed 1477, Known Affected 184, Known Not Affected 15.	https://www.suse.com/security/cve/CVE-2022-1271/
`ubuntu`	medium	CVE-2022-1271 medium priority: Ubuntu including 2 source packages (gzip, xz-utils), 14 status rows across 7 suites (bionic, focal, impish, jammy, trusty, upstream, xenial): released 12, needs-triage 2.	https://ubuntu.com/security/CVE-2022-1271

Affected software / configurations for CVE-2022-1271

Vendor	Product	Version	Raw CPE
gnu	gzip	< 1.12	cpe:2.3:a:gnu:gzip::::::::
redhat	jboss_data_grid	7.0.0	cpe:2.3:a:redhat:jboss_data_grid:7.0.0:::::::*
debian	debian_linux	10.0	cpe:2.3:o:debian:debian_linux:10.0:::::::*
tukaani	xz	< 5.2.5	cpe:2.3:a:tukaani:xz::::::::

References for CVE-2022-1271

URL	Tags
https://access.redhat.com/security/cve/CVE-2022-1271	Third Party Advisory
https://bugzilla.redhat.com/show_bug.cgi?id=2073310	Issue Tracking Third Party Advisory
https://git.tukaani.org/?p=xz.git%3Ba=commit%3Bh=69d1b3fc29677af8ade8dc15dba83f0589cb63d6	Broken Link
https://lists.gnu.org/r/bug-gzip/2022-04/msg00011.html	Mailing List Patch Vendor Advisory
https://security-tracker.debian.org/tracker/CVE-2022-1271	Third Party Advisory
https://security.gentoo.org/glsa/202209-01	Third Party Advisory
https://security.netapp.com/advisory/ntap-20220930-0006/	Third Party Advisory
https://tukaani.org/xz/xzgrep-ZDI-CAN-16587.patch	Patch Third Party Advisory
https://www.openwall.com/lists/oss-security/2022/04/07/8	Mailing List Patch Third Party Advisory

URL

CVE-2022-1271

Exploit prediction scoring system (EPSS) score for CVE-2022-1271

Common vulnerability scoring system (CVSS) metrics for CVE-2022-1271

Weakness enumeration for CVE-2022-1271

OS Trackers for CVE-2022-1271

Affected software / configurations for CVE-2022-1271

References for CVE-2022-1271