CVE-2022-41352
Path Traversal in Synacor Zimbra Collaboration Suite 8.8.15 … 9.0.0
Raw vector
CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:L/PR:N/UI:N/S:U/C:H/I:H/A:HSummary
CVE-2022-41352 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 0.1% 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.
CVE-2022-41352 is a path traversal vulnerability in Zimbra Collaboration Suite (ZCS) versions 8.8.15 and 9.0 that stems from insufficient validation in the amavis component when handling archive extraction via cpio. An attacker can upload arbitrary files that are written to the publicly accessible directory /opt/zimbra/jetty/webapps/zimbra/public, enabling unauthorized access to other user accounts. The flaw is tracked under CWE-22 and carries a CVSS 3.1 score of 9.8.
An unauthenticated remote attacker can exploit the issue by sending a crafted archive through amavis; successful exploitation grants full read/write access to mailbox data and configuration files belonging to any account on the server. Because the vector requires no credentials or user interaction, the attack can be launched directly over the network.
Zimbra security advisories and the vendor wiki recommend replacing cpio with pax for archive handling; pax is listed among Ubuntu prerequisites and is automatically preferred by amavis once installed. On Red Hat and CentOS systems after version 6, administrators must explicitly install pax because it is no longer present in default installations.
Public references, including Packet Storm and SecPod reporting, document active in-the-wild exploitation of the unpatched flaw, and the associated EPSS score has remained above 0.93 with a recorded peak of 0.97, indicating sustained attacker interest after disclosure.
OWASP Top 10 for Web (2025)
EU & UK References
- 🇪🇺 ENISA EUVD: EUVD-2022-44557
Vulnerability Data
An issue was discovered in Zimbra Collaboration (ZCS) 8.8.15 and 9.0. An attacker can upload arbitrary files through amavis via a cpio loophole (extraction to /opt/zimbra/jetty/webapps/zimbra/public) that can lead to incorrect access to any other user accounts. Zimbra recommends pax…
more
over cpio. Also, pax is in the prerequisites of Zimbra on Ubuntu; however, pax is no longer part of a default Red Hat installation after RHEL 6 (or CentOS 6). Once pax is installed, amavis automatically prefers it over cpio.
- CWE(s)
- KEV Date Added
- 20 October 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.