Matrix iOS SDK allows developers to build iOS apps compatible with Matrix. Prior to version 0.23.19, an attacker cooperating with a malicious homeserver can construct messages that legitimately appear to have come from another person, without any indication such as a grey shield. Additionally, a sophisticated attacker cooperating with a malicious homeserver could employ this vulnerability to perform a targeted attack in order to send fake to-device messages appearing to originate from another user. This can allow, for example, to inject the key backup secret during a self-verification, to make a targeted device start using a malicious key backup spoofed by the homeserver. These attacks are possible due to a protocol confusion vulnerability that accepts to-device messages encrypted with Megolm instead of Olm. matrix-ios-sdk version 0.23.19 has been modified to only accept Olm-encrypted to-device messages. Out of caution, several other checks have been audited or added. This attack requires coordination between a malicious home server and an attacker, so those who trust their home servers do not need a workaround. To avoid malicious backup attacks, one should not verify one's new logins using emoji/QR verifications methods until patched.
Conclusion & alert: CVE-2022-39255 is rated Moderate Risk (51.2/100): CVSS High severity, with low exploitation likelihood (EPSS 0.25%). Mandatory action: Review affected assets and schedule remediation.
Risk is dynamic; we continuously reassess and refresh what is shown on this page as upstream context changes.
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 | 2025-11-21 | 0.28% | 0.25% | -0.03% |
| 2 | 2025-11-18 | 0.25% | 0.28% | +0.03% |
| 3 | 2025-10-04 | — | 0.25% | — |
Full EPSS history (10 records total)
CVSS metrics for this CVE.
| Base score | Version | Severity | Vector | Exploitability | Impact | Score source |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 8.6 | 3.1 | HIGH |
|
3.9 | 4.0 | [email protected] |
| 7.5 | 3.1 | HIGH |
|
3.9 | 3.6 | [email protected] |
| Vendor | Product | Version | Raw CPE |
|---|---|---|---|
| matrix | software_development_kit | < 0.23.19 | cpe:2.3:a:matrix:software_development_kit:*:*:*:*:*:iphone_os:*:* |
| URL | Tags |
|---|---|
| https://github.com/matrix-org/matrix-ios-sdk/commit/5ca86c328a5faaab429c240551cb9ca8f0f6262c | Patch Third Party Advisory |
| https://github.com/matrix-org/matrix-ios-sdk/releases/tag/v0.23.19 | Release Notes Third Party Advisory |
| https://github.com/matrix-org/matrix-ios-sdk/security/advisories/GHSA-hw6g-j8v6-9hcm | Third Party Advisory |
| https://matrix.org/blog/2022/09/28/upgrade-now-to-address-encryption-vulns-in-matrix-sdks-and-clients | Vendor Advisory |