Security readout for executives and security teams
Plain-English summary
Curl could fail to enforce its HTTPS preference when a hostname used certain internationalized-domain characters. A request expected to upgrade from HTTP to HTTPS could remain on cleartext HTTP, exposing sensitive traffic to interception.
Executive priority
Treat as high priority where curl handles sensitive traffic or external URLs. Patch through normal security update channels; emergency response is not supported by the provided exploitation evidence.
Technical view
CVE-2022-42916 affects curl 7.77.0 through before 7.86.0. Its HSTS hostname check could be bypassed after IDN conversion, including characters such as U+3002 replacing a dot. The issue is classified as CWE-319 with CVSS 7.5 for confidentiality impact.
Likely exposure
Exposure is most likely where curl or libcurl uses HSTS and processes externally influenced URLs, especially internationalized hostnames. Vendor advisories show downstream impact across Linux distributions, Apple platforms, and NetApp products.
Exploitation context
The source bundle does not show CISA KEV listing or active exploitation evidence. Practical risk depends on whether attackers can influence requested hostnames or network position enough to benefit from a downgrade to cleartext HTTP.
Researcher notes
Focus validation on HSTS-enabled curl behavior, IDN hostname handling, and embedded libcurl dependencies. Do not assume all curl usage is exposed; the issue requires relevant HSTS and hostname-processing conditions.
Mitigation direction
- Upgrade curl to 7.86.0 or later.
- Apply vendor security updates for packaged or embedded curl.
- Check Fedora, Gentoo, Apple, and NetApp guidance where applicable.
- Review services that pass external URLs into curl.
- Avoid relying on unpatched HSTS behavior for sensitive transfers.
Validation and detection
- Inventory curl and libcurl versions across hosts and containers.
- Flag versions from 7.77.0 through before 7.86.0.
- Identify workflows using curl HSTS with external URLs.
- Verify patched package versions against vendor advisories.
- Check SBOMs for embedded curl copies.
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-319: Exact CWE lookup
Use the exact CWE identifier as the starting point before reviewing related ATT&CK behavior. 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-2022-42916 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
- 7.5 (3.1)
- Known Exploited
- No
- Published
Vector: CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:L/PR:N/UI:N/S:U/C:H/I:N/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:N/S:U/C:H/I:N/A:N3.93.6Primary CVE scoreVulnerability scoring details
Base CVSS 3.1 score
7.5HighVector: CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:L/PR:N/UI:N/S:U/C:H/I:N/A:N
Source materials
- CVE List V5 sourceCVE List V5
- https://curl.se/docs/CVE-2022-42916.htmlCVE reference
- FEDORA-2022-01ffde372cCVE reference · vendor-advisory
- FEDORA-2022-39688a779dCVE reference · vendor-advisory
- FEDORA-2022-e9d65906c4CVE reference · vendor-advisory
- https://security.netapp.com/advisory/ntap-20221209-0010/CVE reference
- GLSA-202212-01CVE reference · vendor-advisory
- https://support.apple.com/kb/HT213604CVE reference
- https://support.apple.com/kb/HT213605CVE 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.
Cleartext Transmission of Sensitive Information
Cleartext Transmission of Sensitive Information represents a recurring weakness pattern that can create exploitable paths when design, validation, or implementation controls are missing.