Security readout for executives and security teams
Plain-English summary
CVE-2022-42749 is a cross-site scripting issue in CandidATS 3.0.0. A remote attacker could trick a user into interacting with malicious content and potentially steal that user's session cookie. The issue is medium severity because user interaction is required and the cited impact is limited confidentiality and integrity loss.
Executive priority
Treat this as a targeted web-application risk, not an emergency. Prioritize if CandidATS 3.0.0 is internet-facing or handles sensitive applicant, recruiter, or administrative sessions.
Technical view
The source bundle describes CWE-79 in CandidATS 3.0.0 affecting the page parameter of ajax.php. The CVSS 3.1 vector is AV:N/AC:L/PR:N/UI:R/S:C/C:L/I:L/A:N, indicating remote unauthenticated reachability, required user interaction, changed scope, and no availability impact.
Likely exposure
Exposure is limited to organizations running CandidATS 3.0.0, especially if the application is reachable by external users or staff through a browser.
Exploitation context
The bundle does not show CISA KEV listing or active exploitation evidence. Exploitation depends on convincing a user to interact with attacker-controlled content, then abusing insufficient input validation to execute browser-side script.
Researcher notes
Evidence is narrow but specific: CandidATS 3.0.0, ajax.php page parameter, CWE-79, cookie theft risk, and CVSS 6.1. The source bundle does not provide patch status, proof of active exploitation, or broader affected version claims.
Mitigation direction
- Identify whether any CandidATS 3.0.0 instances are deployed.
- Check CandidATS and Fluid Attacks guidance for fixed versions or workarounds.
- Prioritize remediation for externally reachable or sensitive recruiting systems.
- For maintained code, review ajax.php page handling for validation and output encoding.
Validation and detection
- Inventory CandidATS deployments and confirm exact application version.
- Check whether ajax.php is reachable in deployed environments.
- Review page parameter handling for unsanitized user-controlled output.
- Confirm browser session cookies have secure, HttpOnly, and SameSite protections where applicable.
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-79: User-session and phishing behavior lookup
Client-side and session-facing weaknesses should be reviewed alongside initial-access and user-execution behaviors. 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-2022-42749 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
- Medium
- CVSS
- 6.1 (3.1)
- Known Exploited
- No
- Published
Vector: CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:L/PR:N/UI:R/S:C/C:L/I:L/A:N
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:L/PR:N/UI:R/S:C/C:L/I:L/A:N2.82.7Primary CVE scoreVulnerability scoring details
Base CVSS 3.1 score
6.1MediumVector: CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:L/PR:N/UI:R/S:C/C:L/I:L/A:N
Source materials
- CVE List V5 sourceCVE List V5
- https://candidats.net/CVE reference
- https://fluidattacks.com/advisories/modestep/CVE 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 Neutralization of Input During Web Page Generation ('Cross-site Scripting')
Improper Neutralization of Input During Web Page Generation ('Cross-site Scripting') represents a recurring weakness pattern that can create exploitable paths when design, validation, or implementation controls are missing.