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Fencer Vulns
medium 6.1

CVE-2022-35740 json

dotCMS before 22.06 allows remote attackers to bypass intended access control and obtain sensitive information by using a semicolon in a UR…

published 2022-11-10 3 y ago modified 2026-06-17 4 mo ago also EUVD-2022-38613

cvss
6.1
version 3.1, CNA
cisa kev
Not listed
not in CISA's catalog
epss
1.5%
EPSS 1.5% chance of exploitation in 30 days, percentile 74%
public exploits
0
none known

Summary

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.

Patch / fix

  • dotcms dotcms 5.3.8.12, 21.06.9, 22.03.2, 22.06

CISA SSVC

Exploitation
none
Automatable
no
Technical impact
partial
Assessed
18 mo ago

Exploit prediction

1.49% chance of exploitation in the next 30 days, higher than 74% of all scored CVEs (FIRST EPSS, 2026-11-08).

Exploits and checks

  • dotcms.com https://www.dotcms.com/security/SI-63 referenced PoC, tagged "exploit" by a source, unverified
  • github.com https://github.com/dotCMS/patches-hotfixes/tree/master/com.dotcms.security.matrixparams referenced PoC, tagged "exploit" by a source, unverified

CVSS scores

assigned by version score vector
CISA ADP 3.1 6.1 CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:L/PR:N/UI:R/S:C/C:L/I:L/A:N
NVD 3.1 6.1 CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:L/PR:N/UI:R/S:C/C:L/I:L/A:N
CNA 3.1 6.1 CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:L/PR:N/UI:R/S:C/C:L/I:L/A:N

Classification

Weakness
  • CWE-79 Improper Neutralization of Input During Web Page Generation

References

Sources

Fencer Vulns keeps one entry per vulnerability: the CVE id wins, then GHSA, and records that alias each other are merged, except that two CVEs always keep separate entries. The same data is available as JSON.