Raw vector
CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:L/PR:N/UI:N/S:U/C:H/I:H/A:HSummary
CVE-2022-37042 is a critical-severity Path Traversal (CWE-22) vulnerability in Synacor Zimbra Collaboration Suite. Its CVSS base score is 9.8 (Critical).
Operationally, exploitation aligns with the MITRE ATT&CK technique Exploit Public-Facing Application (T1190); ranked in the top 0.2% of CVEs by exploit likelihood; CISA has added it to the Known Exploited Vulnerabilities catalog; a public proof-of-concept is referenced.
Deeper analysis AI-assisted summary
Synthesised by an AI model from the NVD description and linked references — a reading aid, not an authoritative source.
Zimbra Collaboration Suite (ZCS) versions 8.8.15 and 9.0 contain a path traversal vulnerability in the mboximport functionality, which accepts and extracts files from ZIP archives. The flaw stems from an incomplete fix for CVE-2022-27925 and permits unauthenticated access to the import process without requiring an authtoken, as indicated by its CWE-22 classification and critical CVSS 9.8 score.
An attacker with network access can upload crafted ZIP archives that bypass authentication checks, enabling arbitrary file writes on the server. Successful exploitation grants the ability to place malicious content in sensitive directories, resulting in remote code execution on the affected ZCS installation.
Zimbra's security advisories and wiki pages document the issue and direct administrators to available patches and hardening guidance for the affected releases. Public exploit code has been posted to PacketStorm, and the vulnerability carries an EPSS score that reached a peak of 0.9755 with a current value of 0.9433.
OWASP Top 10 for Web (2025)
EU & UK References
- 🇪🇺 ENISA EUVD: EUVD-2022-39696
Vulnerability Data
Zimbra Collaboration Suite (ZCS) 8.8.15 and 9.0 has mboximport functionality that receives a ZIP archive and extracts files from it. By bypassing authentication (i.e., not having an authtoken), an attacker can upload arbitrary files to the system, leading to directory…
more
traversal and remote code execution. NOTE: this issue exists because of an incomplete fix for CVE-2022-27925.
- CWE(s)
- KEV Date Added
- 11 August 2022
Related Threats
MITRE ATT&CK Enterprise Techniques
CVEs Like This One
Affected Assets
Mitigating Controls
Control response
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V5.3.2
Likely Mitigating Controls AI
Per-CVE control mapping for this CVE has not run yet; the list below is derived from the weakness types (CWEs) cited in the NVD entry.
Validates pathnames and filenames to prevent traversal outside intended directories.
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.
Patching/maintenance can remediate known path-traversal flaws in deployed software (partial prevention of exploitability) but does nothing to stop the coding defect from being introduced in the first place.
PR.AA-05 defines and reviews access policies but does not address code-level pathname neutralization, so neither direction prevents CWE-22.
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.
Security testing in development catches path traversal via static/dynamic analysis.
Secure SDLC mandates input validation and path sanitization that directly prevent path traversal.
Application security requirements include rules for safe file handling and canonicalization.
Secure architecture principles require least-privilege file access and directory isolation.
Secure coding standards explicitly forbid unsafe path construction and mandate safe APIs.
Information access restriction limits which files an application may read or write.