Security readout for executives and security teams
Plain-English summary
MobaXterm versions before 22.1 have an authentication flaw that may let an attacker connect to its server over SSH or SFTP without logging in. If exposed, this can threaten confidentiality, integrity, and availability. Evidence in the bundle does not show active exploitation.
Executive priority
Prioritize remediation for internet-facing or broadly reachable MobaXterm server use. The business risk is unauthorized access without authentication, but urgency should be scoped by whether the affected server functionality is enabled and reachable.
Technical view
CVE-2022-38336 is a CWE-287 improper authentication issue in MobaXterm before v22.1. The CVSS 3.1 score is 8.1, with network attack vector, no privileges or user interaction required, but high attack complexity. The reported impact is high across confidentiality, integrity, and availability.
Likely exposure
Exposure is likely limited to environments running MobaXterm before v22.1 where the affected SSH or SFTP server functionality is enabled and reachable. The source bundle does not provide CPEs, deployment details, or a complete affected-version matrix.
Exploitation context
The CVE is not listed as CISA KEV in the provided bundle. No cited source in the bundle confirms active exploitation, public weaponization, or exploitation at scale. Treat exposed pre-22.1 deployments as urgent because the described failure bypasses authentication.
Researcher notes
The public data is sparse: vendor and product metadata are marked n/a in the bundle, and only one technical reference is supplied. The core facts are the pre-v22.1 range, SSH/SFTP unauthenticated connection risk, CWE-287 classification, and CVSS 8.1 high severity.
Mitigation direction
- Identify any MobaXterm installations older than v22.1.
- Review vendor guidance and upgrade to v22.1 or later where applicable.
- Disable or restrict exposed SSH/SFTP server functionality if not required.
- Limit network access to trusted management hosts.
- Monitor for unexpected SSH or SFTP connection activity.
Validation and detection
- Inventory endpoints and admin workstations running MobaXterm.
- Confirm installed MobaXterm versions against the pre-v22.1 affected range.
- Check whether SSH or SFTP server functionality is enabled.
- Verify exposure from untrusted networks is blocked.
- Review logs for unusual unauthenticated connection attempts.
Public sources used
Generated from the cited source records. This long-tail analysis has not been individually reviewed by a named human.
Conservative CVE-to-ATT&CK context
These mappings and lookup hints may be relevant to the vulnerability behavior, CWE, affected product, or exposure path. Glexia-inferred context is not an official MITRE, ATT&CK, CWE, or CVE Program mapping.
ATT&CK lookup starting points
Use these exact CWE pages and searches to review the Glexia ATT&CK library from this CVE's weakness and description context.
CWE-287: Credential and account abuse lookup
Authentication and credential weaknesses can make valid-account abuse and credential telemetry useful review starting points. Open the exact CWE lookup page first, then review the ATT&CK searches from that MITRE weakness context. This is a Glexia lookup hint, not an official ATT&CK mapping.
Open ATT&CK lookupCVE-2022-38336 mapping review
Open the CVE-to-ATT&CK bridge for reviewed, inferred, or future official mappings tied to this CVE.
Open ATT&CK lookup- Severity
- High
- CVSS
- 8.1 (3.1)
- Known Exploited
- No
- Published
Vector: CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:H/PR:N/UI:N/S:U/C:H/I:H/A:H
CNA and ADP enrichment extracted from CVE v5
These fields come from the CVE record and ADP containers, not from Glexia's Take. They preserve time-varying source decisions such as CISA SSVC, KEV status, CVSS metrics, and provider references.
CVSS vector scores
1 official scoreWe collect every scored CVSS vector available in the official CNA and ADP containers. When more than one version is present, the table keeps the source vectors side by side instead of collapsing them into the highest score.
CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:H/PR:N/UI:N/S:U/C:H/I:H/A:H2.25.9Primary CVE scoreVulnerability scoring details
Base CVSS 3.1 score
8.1HighVector: CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:H/PR:N/UI:N/S:U/C:H/I:H/A:H
Source materials
- CVE List V5 sourceCVE List V5
- https://docs.ssh-mitm.at/vulnerabilities/CVE-2022-38336.htmlCVE reference
Products and packages named in the record
CWE details
CWE links open Glexia weakness intelligence pages with official CWE context, developer remediation guidance, and related CVE mappings.
Improper Authentication
Improper Authentication represents a recurring weakness pattern that can create exploitable paths when design, validation, or implementation controls are missing.