What is CVE-2022-42948?

CVE-2022-42948 is a critical-severity vulnerability in Helpsystems Cobalt Strike, classified under Improper Encoding or Escaping of Output. CVSS score: 9.8/10. Published 2023-03-24.

How severe is CVE-2022-42948?

Critical severity. CVSS v3 base score is 9.8 out of 10.

Is CVE-2022-42948 known to be exploited?

Yes. CVE-2022-42948 is listed in the CISA Known Exploited Vulnerabilities catalog (added 2023-03-30), indicating it is being actively exploited. 2 public proof-of-concept repositories are indexed.

Vulnerability in Helpsystems Cobalt Strike

CVE-2022-42948

Cobalt Strike 4.7.1 fails to properly escape HTML tags when they are displayed on Swing components. By injecting crafted HTML code, it is possible to remotely execute code in the Cobalt Strike UI.

Published 2023-03-24 · last modified 2026-06-17.

CVSS v3 metric

CVSS v3 base score 9.8 (Critical). Vector: CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:L/PR:N/UI:N/S:U/C:H/I:H/A:H.

EPSS exploit prediction

EPSS: 0.027 (85.7th percentile), scored 2026-10-19.

Low probability of exploitation in the next 30 days, but still tracked. 86th percentile — 85.7% of CVEs in the catalogue have a lower EPSS than this one. How to read EPSS.

EPSS over last 30 days · oldest: 0.027 · newest: 0.027 · change: 0.000

Affected products

Helpsystems Cobalt Strike — versions 4.7.1

Weakness classification (CWE)

CWE-116 — Improper Encoding or Escaping of Output

CISA KEV (Known Exploited Vulnerabilities)

This CVE is on the CISA KEV catalog, added on 2023-03-30. CISA KEV inclusion means CISA has confirmed in-the-wild exploitation; US federal agencies are required to remediate within a published due date.

BOD 22-01 due date: 2023-04-20.

Required action: Apply updates per vendor instructions.

Public proof-of-concept exploits

References

www.cobaltstrike.com/blog/ (Vendor Advisory)
www.redpacketsecurity.com/helpsystems-cobalt-strike-code-execution-cve-2022-429… (Third Party Advisory)
thesecmaster.com/how-to-fix-cve-2022-42948-a-critical-rce-vulnerability-in-coba… (Technical Description, Third Party Advisory)
134c704f-9b21-4f2e-91b3-4a467353bcc0 (US Government Resource)

Frequently asked questions

What is CVE-2022-42948?: CVE-2022-42948 is a critical-severity vulnerability in Helpsystems Cobalt Strike, classified under Improper Encoding or Escaping of Output. CVSS score: 9.8/10. Published 2023-03-24.
How severe is CVE-2022-42948?: Critical severity. CVSS v3 base score is 9.8 out of 10.
Is CVE-2022-42948 known to be exploited?: Yes. CVE-2022-42948 is listed in the CISA Known Exploited Vulnerabilities catalog (added 2023-03-30), indicating it is being actively exploited. 2 public proof-of-concept repositories are indexed.