CVE-2022-42889: Text4Shell
Code Injection: Is CVE-2022-42889 real, exploitable, or a false positive? Here's the community verdict.
signals
public sources
High severity and high exploitation probability. Prioritise remediation.
public exploits
links to sources — we don’t host codeA working exploit is publicly available from a maintained source. Treat this as higher urgency and verify your exposure.
baseline read
auto · not a community verdict
Likely real & worth prioritising
High base severity and a high real-world exploitation probability both point to a genuine, actively targeted issue.
Based on CVSS · FIRST EPSS
Confirm or dispute →CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:L/PR:N/UI:N/S:U/C:H/I:H/A:H
Apache Commons Text performs variable interpolation, allowing properties to be dynamically evaluated and expanded. The standard format for interpolation is "${prefix:name}", where "prefix" is used to locate an instance of org.apache.commons.text.lookup.StringLookup that performs the interpolation. Starting with version 1.5 and continuing through 1.9, the set of default Lookup instances included interpolators that could result in arbitrary code execution or contact with remote servers. These lookups are: - "script" - execute expressions using the JVM script execution engine (javax.script) - "dns" - resolve dns records - "url" - load values from urls, including from remote servers Applications using the interpolation defaults in the affected versions may be vulnerable to remote code execution or unintentional contact with remote servers if untrusted configuration values are used. Users are recommended to upgrade to Apache Commons Text 1.10.0, which disables the problematic interpolators by default.
References
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Field notes & remediation
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- 0
The name made this sound like the next Log4Shell, but it is not. It is only exploitable if your application passes untrusted input into Apache Commons Text's StringSubstitutor with the default interpolators, using Commons Text 1.5 to 1.9. That pattern is rare in real applications, because that method is meant for interpolation and developers do not usually feed attacker-controlled data into it. So for most teams this is a scanner finding, not an incident.
Who is affected: apps using Commons Text 1.5 to 1.9 that actually run the string interpolation on untrusted input.
How to check: search your code for StringSubstitutor and createInterpolator used on untrusted input. Most codebases have none.
Commonly flagged by: Trivy, Snyk, Dependabot, Grype.
- 0
Upgrade Apache Commons Text to 1.10.0, where the risky interpolators are off by default. Before treating it as urgent, confirm whether your code actually interpolates untrusted input. If it does not, this is low-priority hygiene, not an emergency.
Add a field note or remediationoptional
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