CVE & CISA-KEV Catalog

CVE-2022-4515

HIGH
7.8
CVSS v3
NVD

Description

A flaw was found in Exuberant Ctags in the way it handles the "-o" option. This option specifies the tag filename. A crafted tag filename specified in the command line or in the configuration file results in arbitrary command execution because the externalSortTags() in sort.c calls the system(3) function in an unsafe way.

How to fix

Remediation Available
exuberant-ctagsDebian
Fixed in:1:5.9~svn20110310-14+deb11u1CVE-2022-4515
Fixed in:1:5.9~svn20110310-18CVE-2022-4515
Fixed in:1:5.9~svn20110310-18CVE-2022-4515
Fixed in:1:5.9~svn20110310-18CVE-2022-4515
ctagsRocky
Fixed in:0:5.8-23.el8RHSA-2023:2863
Fixed in:0:5.8-23.el8RHSA-2023:2863
Fixed in:0:5.8-23.el8RHSA-2023:2863
Fixed in:0:5.8-23.el8RHSA-2023:2863
Fixed in:0:5.8-23.el8RHSA-2023:2863
ctagsRed Hat / RHEL
Fixed in:0:5.8-23.el8RHSA-2023:2863
Fixed in:0:5.8-23.el8RHSA-2023:2863
Fixed in:0:5.8-23.el8RHSA-2023:2863
Fixed in:0:5.8-23.el8RHSA-2023:2863
Fixed in:0:5.8-23.el8RHSA-2023:2863
ctags-debuginfoRocky
Fixed in:0:5.8-23.el8RHSA-2023:2863
Fixed in:0:5.8-23.el8RHSA-2023:2863
Fixed in:0:5.8-23.el8RHSA-2023:2863
Fixed in:0:5.8-23.el8RHSA-2023:2863
ctags-debuginfoRed Hat / RHEL
Fixed in:0:5.8-23.el8RHSA-2023:2863
Fixed in:0:5.8-23.el8RHSA-2023:2863
Fixed in:0:5.8-23.el8RHSA-2023:2863
Fixed in:0:5.8-23.el8RHSA-2023:2863
ctags-debugsourceRed Hat / RHEL
Fixed in:0:5.8-23.el8RHSA-2023:2863
Fixed in:0:5.8-23.el8RHSA-2023:2863
Fixed in:0:5.8-23.el8RHSA-2023:2863
Fixed in:0:5.8-23.el8RHSA-2023:2863
ctags-debugsourceRocky
Fixed in:0:5.8-23.el8RHSA-2023:2863
Fixed in:0:5.8-23.el8RHSA-2023:2863
Fixed in:0:5.8-23.el8RHSA-2023:2863
Fixed in:0:5.8-23.el8RHSA-2023:2863
ctags-etagsRocky
Fixed in:0:5.8-23.el8RHSA-2023:2863
Fixed in:0:5.8-23.el8RHSA-2023:2863
Fixed in:0:5.8-23.el8RHSA-2023:2863
Fixed in:0:5.8-23.el8RHSA-2023:2863
ctags-etagsRed Hat / RHEL
Fixed in:0:5.8-23.el8RHSA-2023:2863
Fixed in:0:5.8-23.el8RHSA-2023:2863
Fixed in:0:5.8-23.el8RHSA-2023:2863
Fixed in:0:5.8-23.el8RHSA-2023:2863
exuberant-ctagsUbuntu
Fixed in:1:5.9~svn20110310-11ubuntu0.1~esm1USN-5820-1
Fixed in:1:5.9~svn20110310-11ubuntu0.1USN-5820-1
Fixed in:1:5.9~svn20110310-12ubuntu0.1USN-5820-1
Fixed in:1:5.9~svn20110310-16ubuntu0.22.04.1USN-5820-1
Fixed in:1:5.9~svn20110310-16ubuntu0.22.10.1USN-5820-1

Remediation is compiled from vendor and distribution security advisories. Always confirm against the linked source for your exact version and platform.

CVSS v3 Vector

Exploitability

Attack VectorLocal
Attack ComplexityLow
Privileges RequiredNone
User InteractionRequired
ScopeUnchanged

Impact

ConfidentialityHigh
IntegrityHigh
AvailabilityHigh

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

Exploit Intelligence

0.58%probability of exploitation in 30 days
43rdpercentile

Moderate risk: more likely to be exploited than 43% of all known CVEs.

References

Third-Party Advisory1

Related Vulnerabilities

Other CWE-78 (OS Command Injection) vulnerabilities, ordered by exploit likelihood. View all

CVESeverityCVSSEPSSExploitedFix
CVE-2021-1498Critical9.8100%KEVFix
CVE-2014-6271Critical9.8100%KEVFix
CVE-2019-16920Critical9.8100%KEV-
CVE-2022-44877Critical9.8100%KEVFix
CVE-2020-8515Critical9.8100%KEV-
CVE-2020-9054Critical9.8100%KEVFix
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This product uses NVD data but is not endorsed or certified by the NVD. EPSS scores courtesy of FIRST.org (https://www.first.org/epss). Source: CISA KEV Catalog. Data as of 2025-04-14.