Cyber Resilience

CVE-2022-28368

XSS in Dompdf Project Dompdf ≤ 1.2.1

Public PoCHigh EPSSXSS
Published
03 April 2022
Modified
21 November 2024
Patch / advisory
CVSS Score v3.1 9.8
Click a component to see what it means
Raw vectorCVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:L/PR:N/UI:N/S:U/C:H/I:H/A:H
EPSS Score 0.82 99.6th percentile
Risk Priority 97 floored blend · peak EPSS

Summary

CVE-2022-28368 is a critical-severity Cross-site Scripting (CWE-79) vulnerability in Dompdf Project Dompdf. Its CVSS base score is 9.8 (Critical).

Operationally, ranked in the top 0.4% of CVEs by exploit likelihood; it is not currently listed in the CISA KEV catalog; a public proof-of-concept is referenced.

The strongest mitigations our analysis identified map to SI-10 (Information Input Validation) and SI-2 (Flaw Remediation) — see the control section below for these in your framework.

Deeper analysis AI-assisted summary

Synthesised by an AI model from the NVD description and linked references — a reading aid, not an authoritative source.

Dompdf version 1.2.1 is affected by a remote code execution vulnerability that occurs when an attacker supplies an HTML document containing a CSS @font-face rule whose src:url field references a .php file. The library processes the supplied stylesheet without sufficient validation of font sources, allowing the referenced PHP content to be executed in the context of the Dompdf process.

An unauthenticated remote attacker can exploit the flaw simply by submitting a crafted HTML file to any application that uses Dompdf to render user-controlled documents. Successful exploitation grants arbitrary code execution on the server, with impacts equivalent to full confidentiality, integrity, and availability compromise as reflected in the CVSS 9.8 rating.

The project addressed the issue in commit 4c70e1025bcd9b7694b95dd552499bd83cd6141d and pull request 2808; administrators should upgrade to a patched release. Public exploit code has been published, and the vulnerability maintains an EPSS score near 0.88, indicating sustained exploitation interest after disclosure.

OWASP Top 10 for Web (2025)

EU & UK References

Vulnerability Data

Dompdf 1.2.1 allows remote code execution via a .php file in the src:url field of an @font-face Cascading Style Sheets (CSS) statement (within an HTML input file).

CWE(s)

Related Threats

Likely ATT&CK TechniquesAI

Techniques this vulnerability likely enables, inferred from its description, weakness type, and attributed-actor tradecraft. Confidence is per-technique.

T1190 Exploit Public-Facing Application Initial Accessconfidence: HIGH
The vulnerability allows unauthenticated remote code execution by submitting a crafted HTML document to a Dompdf instance, directly matching exploitation of a public-facing application.
T1059 Command and Scripting Interpreter Executionconfidence: HIGH
Successful exploitation results in arbitrary code execution on the server via the processed PHP content referenced in the malicious CSS @font-face rule.
inferred from description + CWE · MITRE ATT&CK Enterprise v19.0

CVEs Like This One

CVE-2023-22972Shared CWE-79
CVE-2023-4482Shared CWE-79
CVE-2023-48472Shared CWE-79
CVE-2023-4175Shared CWE-79
CVE-2023-50833Shared CWE-79
CVE-2023-30097Shared CWE-79
CVE-2023-36656Shared CWE-79
CVE-2023-2477Shared CWE-79
CVE-2023-46783Shared CWE-79
CVE-2023-3476Shared CWE-79

Affected Assets

dompdf project
dompdf
≤ 1.2.1

Mitigating Controls

Control response

Prevent
Stop it (NIST 800-53)
  • SI-10 Information Input Validation
  • SI-2 Flaw Remediation
  • SI-3 Malicious Code Protection
Detect
Catch it (NIST detect / respond)
  • SI-3 Malicious Code Protection
Harden
Shrink the surface (DISA STIG)

Validate
Prove the fix (OWASP ASVS)
  • V1.1.2
  • V1.3.2

Mitigating Controls (NIST 800-53 r5) AI

prevent

Directly requires validation of user-supplied HTML/CSS content to reject unsafe @font-face src:url references before Dompdf processes them.

prevent

Mandates timely application of the vendor patch (commit 4c70e10) that eliminates the unsafe font-source handling in Dompdf 1.2.1.

preventdetect

Requires mechanisms to detect and block malicious code execution attempts that result from the crafted CSS font rule.

Mitigating Controls (NIST CSF 2.0) AI

Derived directly from the weakness types (CWEs) cited in the NVD entry via our AI-authored CWE→CSF cross-walk (authority under review) — links open the control.

PR.PS-06 mostly match
prevents

Secure SDLC practices directly target introduction of XSS via coding standards/testing (mostly), yet the single broad outcome leaves many specific neutralization vectors unaddressed (partial).

PR.PS-02 partial match
prevents

Patching and EOL replacement can remediate known XSS instances in libraries or frameworks (partial) but do nothing to enforce input neutralization in application code (none).

Mitigating Controls (ISO/IEC 27001:2022 Annex A) AI

Derived directly from the weakness types (CWEs) cited in the NVD entry via our AI-authored CWE→ISO cross-walk (authority under review) — links open the control.

detects

Secure-coding testing and automated code-analysis tools are applied to detect improper neutralization of script-related content during web-page generation.

prevents

Knowledge exchange on emerging attack techniques and patches reduces the likelihood that cross-site scripting flaws remain unaddressed in deployed applications.

prevents

Operational indicators of compromise for web-application attacks can be incorporated into WAF or input-filtering rules, lowering the likelihood that unsanitized data reaches the browser.

prevents

Requiring language-specific secure-coding standards and automated scanning during the SDLC catches missing output encoding or improper neutralization of untrusted data before the software reaches production.

prevents

Secure-coding standards, SAST scans and removal of insecure code samples together eliminate the failure to neutralize script content that produces cross-site scripting flaws.

none

Webpage malware scanning and block-listing of known malicious sites reduce the likelihood that reflected or stored script payloads reach a user’s browser.

References