Cyber Resilience

CVE-2022-36961

SQLi in Solarwinds Orion Platform ≤ 2022.2.0

High EPSSSQLi
Published
30 September 2022
Modified
21 November 2024
Patch / advisory
View advisory
CVSS Score v3.1 8.8
Click a component to see what it means
Raw vectorCVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:L/PR:L/UI:N/S:U/C:H/I:H/A:H
EPSS Score 0.75 99.5th percentile
Risk Priority 87 floored blend · peak EPSS

Summary

CVE-2022-36961 is a high-severity SQL Injection (CWE-89) vulnerability in Solarwinds Orion Platform. Its CVSS base score is 8.8 (High).

Operationally, ranked in the top 0.5% of CVEs by exploit likelihood; it is not currently listed in the CISA KEV catalog.

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.

CVE-2022-36961 is an SQL injection vulnerability (CWE-89) affecting a component of the SolarWinds Orion Platform. The flaw carries a CVSS 3.1 score of 8.8 and was publicly disclosed on 30 September 2022.

An authenticated attacker with network access can supply crafted input to the vulnerable component, enabling privilege escalation or remote code execution on the affected Orion Platform instance.

SolarWinds has published an advisory and corresponding release notes for the SolarWinds Platform 2022.3 update that address the issue; the advisory and release notes are available at the vendor URLs listed for this CVE.

The EPSS score for the vulnerability has remained at 0.1177 from disclosure through the present measurement.

OWASP Top 10 for Web (2025)

A05:2025 Injection

EU & UK References

Vulnerability Data

A vulnerable component of Orion Platform was vulnerable to SQL Injection, an authenticated attacker could leverage this for privilege escalation or remote code execution.

CWE(s)
CWE-89

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
SQL injection in a network-accessible component of SolarWinds Orion directly enables exploitation of a public-facing application.
attack.mitre.org →
T1068 Exploitation for Privilege Escalation Privilege Escalationconfidence: HIGH
The vulnerability description explicitly states that the SQL injection leads to privilege escalation.
attack.mitre.org →
T1059 Command and Scripting Interpreter Executionconfidence: MEDIUM
Successful exploitation can result in remote code execution, which an attacker may achieve via a command or scripting interpreter.
attack.mitre.org →
inferred from description + CWE · MITRE ATT&CK Enterprise v19.0

CVEs Like This One

CVE-2024-29001Same product class: network monitoring / SIEM
CVE-2023-35188Same product class: network monitoring / SIEM
CVE-2023-40056Same product class: network monitoring / SIEM
CVE-2012-2576Same product class: network monitoring / SIEM
CVE-2016-4350Same product class: network monitoring / SIEM
CVE-2024-28996Same product class: network monitoring / SIEM
CVE-2023-50395Same product class: network monitoring / SIEM
CVE-2023-40933Same product class: network monitoring / SIEM
CVE-2024-36514Same product class: network monitoring / SIEM
CVE-2019-17602Same product class: network monitoring / SIEM

Affected Assets

solarwinds
orion platform
≤ 2022.2.0

Mitigating Controls

Control response

Prevent
Stop it (NIST 800-53)
  • SI-10 Information Input Validation
  • SI-2 Flaw Remediation
  • AC-6 Least Privilege
Detect
Catch it (NIST detect / respond)

—

Harden
Shrink the surface (DISA STIG)

—

Validate
Prove the fix (OWASP ASVS)
  • V6.2.5

Mitigating Controls (NIST 800-53 r5) AI

SI-10 Information Input Validation good match
prevent

Directly blocks the crafted SQL input that enables the authenticated injection leading to privilege escalation or RCE.

SI-2 Flaw Remediation good match
prevent

Requires prompt application of the vendor-supplied SolarWinds Platform 2022.3 patch that eliminates the SQL injection flaw.

AC-6 Least Privilege partial match
prevent

Limits the damage an authenticated attacker can achieve by restricting privileges that could otherwise be escalated via the injection.

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 injection flaws during coding and review so largely prevent CWE-89 introduction, yet the single broad outcome leaves residual risk from incomplete neutralization techniques or missed edge cases.

PR.AT-02 partial match
prevents

Training raises developer awareness of SQLi risks and can reduce introduction likelihood (partial) but removes none of the actual coding flaw's risk by itself since technical neutralization is still required.

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.

A.8.29 Security testing in development and acceptance mostly match
detects

The same secure-coding and static-analysis activities surface missing neutralization of SQL metacharacters before the system is accepted.

A.5.6 Contact with special interest groups partial match
prevents

Early warnings and shared best-practice information help organizations apply the latest remediation techniques against SQL-injection vulnerabilities.

A.5.7 Threat intelligence partial match
prevents

Threat-intelligence feeds that surface new SQL-injection campaigns enable rapid updates to query-construction defenses and detection signatures before exploitation occurs.

A.8.25 Secure development life cycle partial match
prevents

Secure-coding rules and security testing phases mandate the use of parameterized queries or equivalent escaping, preventing the construction of dynamic SQL statements from untrusted input.

A.8.28 Secure coding partial match
prevents

Language-specific secure coding rules, peer review and SAST together prevent the construction of SQL statements from untrusted data without proper parameterization or escaping.

References