CVE-2022-39227
Published: 23 September 2022
Summary
CVE-2022-39227 is a critical-severity Authentication Bypass by Spoofing (CWE-290) vulnerability in Python-Jwt Project Python-Jwt. Its CVSS base score is 9.1 (Critical).
Operationally, ranked in the top 1.5% of CVEs by exploit likelihood; it is not currently listed in the CISA KEV catalog.
Deeper analysis
python-jwt is a Python module used to generate and verify JSON Web Tokens. Versions prior to 3.3.4 contain an authentication bypass vulnerability (CWE-290) that allows an attacker in possession of a valid JWT to arbitrarily modify its claims without knowledge of the signing secret, resulting in a CVSS 3.1 score of 9.1.
An attacker who obtains any JWT token can therefore spoof arbitrary user identities, hijack sessions, or bypass authentication controls in applications that rely on the library for token validation. The flaw is exploitable over the network without authentication or user interaction.
Advisories and the project repository direct users to upgrade immediately to version 3.3.4; the referenced commits address the verification logic, and no workarounds are documented.
The EPSS score has reached a peak of 0.7131 with a current value of 0.6541, indicating sustained exploitation interest following disclosure.
EU & UK References
- 🇪🇺 ENISA EUVD: EUVD-2022-0219
Vulnerability details
python-jwt is a module for generating and verifying JSON Web Tokens. Versions prior to 3.3.4 are subject to Authentication Bypass by Spoofing, resulting in identity spoofing, session hijacking or authentication bypass. An attacker who obtains a JWT can arbitrarily forge…
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its contents without knowing the secret key. Depending on the application, this may for example enable the attacker to spoof other user's identities, hijack their sessions, or bypass authentication. Users should upgrade to version 3.3.4. There are no known workarounds.
- CWE(s)
Related Threats
No named actor attribution yet. ATT&CK technique mapping in progress for this CVE.
Affected Assets
Mitigating Controls
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.
Reveals spoofed logon attempts through unexpected previous logon timestamps upon legitimate login.
Training specifically addresses recognizing spoofed communications and phishing that enable authentication bypass.
Requiring verifiable identity evidence at appropriate assurance levels makes it substantially harder for attackers to successfully spoof or impersonate users to obtain accounts.
Unique device authentication makes successful spoofing of device identity substantially more difficult to achieve.
Unique identification of non-organizational users reduces the feasibility of authentication bypass by spoofing.
Unique identification and authentication of services before communications makes spoofing of service identities substantially harder.
Isolated trusted path ensures the user interacts only with genuine system components, preventing spoofing of authentication interfaces or prompts.
Directly counters DNS response spoofing by requiring cryptographic origin authentication artifacts from the authoritative source.