CVE-2022-42948
Helpsystems Cobalt Strike 4.7.1
Raw vector
CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:L/PR:N/UI:N/S:U/C:H/I:H/A:HSummary
CVE-2022-42948 is a critical-severity Improper Encoding or Escaping of Output (CWE-116) vulnerability in Helpsystems Cobalt Strike. Its CVSS base score is 9.8 (Critical).
Operationally, ranked in the top 16% of CVEs by exploit likelihood; CISA has added it to the Known Exploited Vulnerabilities catalog.
The strongest mitigations our analysis identified map to SI-15 (Information Output Filtering) and SA-8 (Security and Privacy Engineering Principles) — 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.
Cobalt Strike version 4.7.1 contains an improper output encoding flaw (CWE-116) in which HTML tags are not escaped before being rendered inside Java Swing components. The affected component is the Cobalt Strike client user interface, which processes and displays data that can originate from remote sources.
An unauthenticated remote attacker can supply crafted HTML that triggers arbitrary code execution inside the Cobalt Strike UI. Successful exploitation grants the attacker the same privileges as the user running the client and can result in complete compromise of confidentiality, integrity, and availability, consistent with the CVSS 9.8 rating.
Public references point to HelpSystems/Cobalt Strike advisory material and third-party remediation guidance, although specific patch or configuration details are not enumerated in the supplied references. The EPSS score has remained in the 0.22–0.24 range with no material post-disclosure climb.
OWASP Top 10 for Web (2025)
EU & UK References
- 🇪🇺 ENISA EUVD: EUVD-2022-46004
Vulnerability Data
Cobalt Strike 4.7.1 fails to properly escape HTML tags when they are displayed on Swing components. By injecting crafted HTML code, it is possible to remotely execute code in the Cobalt Strike UI.
- CWE(s)
- KEV Date Added
- 30 March 2023
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.
CVEs Like This One
Affected Assets
Mitigating Controls
Control response
Mitigating Controls (NIST 800-53 r5) AI
Directly requires filtering/encoding of data before display, which would have prevented the unescaped HTML tags from triggering RCE in the Swing UI.
Mandates validation of data received from remote sources before processing or rendering, blocking the crafted HTML payload at the input stage.
Requires application of secure engineering principles such as output encoding and injection prevention during design and implementation of the Cobalt Strike client.
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.
Secure SDLC practices directly require proper output encoding to prevent injection and message malformation.
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.
Secure coding standards explicitly require correct output encoding and escaping to preserve message structure.
Security testing can detect missing or incorrect encoding but does not itself implement the control.
Secure development life cycle mandates output encoding/escaping practices that directly prevent improper encoding.
Application security requirements include explicit rules for safe output handling and encoding.
Secure architecture principles reduce the likelihood of missing encoding but do not prescribe the actual technique.