CVE-2022-35740

Exp

dotCMS before 22.06 allows remote attackers to bypass intended access control and obtain sensitive information by using a semicolon in a URL to introduce a matrix parameter. (This is also fixed in 5.3.8.12, 21.06.9, and 22.03.2 for LTS users.) Some Java application frameworks, including those used by Spring or Tomcat, allow the use of matrix parameters: these are URI parameters separated by semicolons. Through precise semicolon placement in a URI, it is possible to exploit this feature to avoid dotCMS's path-based XSS prevention (such as "require login" filters), and consequently access restricted resources. For example, an attacker could place a semicolon immediately before a / character that separates elements of a filesystem path. This could reveal file content that is ordinarily only visible to signed-in users. This issue can be chained with other exploit code to achieve XSS attacks against dotCMS.

Published: 2022-11-10 Last update: 2026-06-17 Assigner: [email protected] Source: [email protected]

Conclusion & alert: CVE-2022-35740 is rated High Exploit Risk (67.4/100): CVSS Medium severity, with medium exploitation likelihood (EPSS 1.21%). Core evidence: 2 public exploit reference(s) are indexed (Exploit-DB). Mandatory action: Public exploits are available—assess exposure, apply mitigations, and prioritize patching.

Risk is dynamic; we continuously reassess and refresh what is shown on this page as upstream context changes.

Public exploit references (Exploit-DB) for CVE-2022-35740

EDB-ID Source Kind Published Link
nvd_ref exploit_tag Exploit-DB ↗
nvd_ref exploit_tag Exploit-DB ↗

Exploit prediction scoring system (EPSS) score for CVE-2022-35740

EPSS lead: Daily EPSS estimates relative likelihood of exploitation; percentile ranks this CVE among scored vulnerabilities (higher = more severe relative rank).

# Date Old EPSS score New EPSS score Delta (New - Old)
1 2026-06-09 1.02% 1.21% +0.19%
2 2025-11-14 1.21% 1.02% -0.19%
3 2025-11-12 1.21%

Full EPSS history (15 records total)

Common vulnerability scoring system (CVSS) metrics for CVE-2022-35740

CVSS metrics for this CVE.

Base score Version Severity Vector Exploitability Impact Score source
6.1 3.1 MEDIUM
CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:L/PR:N/UI:R/S:C/C:L/I:L/A:N 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:N)
No account or special rights needed—anonymous or random user is enough.
User interaction (UI:R)
A real person has to do something—click, install, enable—otherwise it doesn’t land.
Scope (S:C)
Breaking this can reach past the original component and bite other resources—bigger blast radius.
Confidentiality (C:L)
Some sensitive info could get out, but not a total data dump.
Integrity (I:L)
Attackers could change some data, but it’s limited—not everything goes.
Availability (A:N)
Service keeps running; no real outage angle.
2.8 2.7 [email protected]
6.1 3.1 MEDIUM
CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:L/PR:N/UI:R/S:C/C:L/I:L/A:N 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:N)
No account or special rights needed—anonymous or random user is enough.
User interaction (UI:R)
A real person has to do something—click, install, enable—otherwise it doesn’t land.
Scope (S:C)
Breaking this can reach past the original component and bite other resources—bigger blast radius.
Confidentiality (C:L)
Some sensitive info could get out, but not a total data dump.
Integrity (I:L)
Attackers could change some data, but it’s limited—not everything goes.
Availability (A:N)
Service keeps running; no real outage angle.
2.8 2.7 134c704f-9b21-4f2e-91b3-4a467353bcc0

Weakness enumeration for CVE-2022-35740

Affected software / configurations for CVE-2022-35740

Vendor Product Version Raw CPE
dotcms dotcms >= 5.3.8, < 5.3.8.12 cpe:2.3:a:dotcms:dotcms:*:*:*:*:lts:*:*:*
dotcms dotcms >= 21.06, < 21.06.9 cpe:2.3:a:dotcms:dotcms:*:*:*:*:lts:*:*:*
dotcms dotcms >= 22.01, < 22.06 cpe:2.3:a:dotcms:dotcms:*:*:*:*:*:*:*:*
dotcms dotcms >= 22.03, < 22.03.2 cpe:2.3:a:dotcms:dotcms:*:*:*:*:lts:*:*:*

References for CVE-2022-35740

cvelogic Threat Intelligence