CVE-2022-35978 | Lua sandbox escape from mod in Minetest

Minetest is a free open-source voxel game engine with easy modding and game creation. In **single player**, a mod can set a global setting that controls the Lua script loaded to display the main menu. The script is then loaded as soon as the game session is exited. The Lua environment the menu runs in is not sandboxed and can directly interfere with the user's system. There are currently no known workarounds.

Published: 2022-08-15 Last update: 2026-06-17 Assigner: [email protected] Source: [email protected]
NVD Status：Modified，CVE State: published
View at NVD, CVE.org, EUVD

CVE-2022-35978 is rated Moderate Risk (53.8/100): CVSS High severity, with medium exploitation likelihood (EPSS 2.20%). Review affected assets and schedule remediation.

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

Exploit prediction scoring system (EPSS) score for CVE-2022-35978

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 2026-06-15 13.73% 2.20% -11.54%
2 2026-04-08 19.21% 13.73% -5.48%
3 2026-04-07 — 19.21% —

Full EPSS history (27 records total)

Common vulnerability scoring system (CVSS) metrics for CVE-2022-35978

CVSS metrics for this CVE.

Base score Version Severity Vector Exploitability Impact Score source
7.7 3.1 HIGH
CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:H/PR:L/UI:N/S:C/C:L/I:H/A:L 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:H)
Even with access, the exploit needs extra luck, timing, or a fussy environment to actually work.
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: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:H)
They could widely tamper with or forge data—trust in the data is badly hurt.
Availability (A:L)
Might cause slowdowns, glitches, or partial disruption—not a full brick.
 1.8 5.3 [email protected]
10.0 3.1 CRITICAL
CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:L/PR:N/UI:N/S:C/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:N)
No account or special rights needed—anonymous or random user is enough.
User interaction (UI:N)
Nobody has to click “OK” or open a trap file; it can work without a victim helping.
Scope (S:C)
Breaking this can reach past the original component and bite other resources—bigger blast radius.
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.
 3.9 6.0 [email protected]

Weakness enumeration for CVE-2022-35978

OS Trackers for CVE-2022-35978

vendor priority summary link
debian not yet assigned CVE-2022-35978 not yet assigned priority: Debian including 1 source packages (minetest), 2 status rows across 2 suites (bookworm, bullseye): open 1, resolved 1. https://security-tracker.debian.org/tracker/CVE-2022-35978
ubuntu medium CVE-2022-35978 medium priority: Ubuntu including 1 source packages (minetest), 13 status rows across 13 suites (bionic, focal, jammy, kinetic, lunar, mantic, noble, oracular, plucky, questing, trusty, upstream, xenial): ignored 6, needs-triage 6, DNE 1. https://ubuntu.com/security/CVE-2022-35978

Affected software / configurations for CVE-2022-35978

Vendor Product Version Raw CPE
minetest minetest < 5.6.0 cpe:2.3:a:minetest:minetest:*:*:*:*:*:*:*:*

References for CVE-2022-35978

cvelogic Threat Intelligence