CVE-2022-0072Network attack vector

Authenticated web-root file access via regex bypass

Published Oct 27, 2022 · Updated May 9, 2025

Path traversal in the OpenLiteSpeed and LiteSpeed Web Server WebAdmin Console allows remote authenticated users to read forbidden web-root files. Two URL-filtering regular expressions in httpserver.cpp fail to reject traversal characters, allowing requests to reach otherwise forbidden paths. Exploitation requires WebAdmin authentication and root privileges to place a target under /usr/local/lsws/admin/html; reads remain confined to the web root.

CVSS severity5.8
Medium
EPSS probability1.04%
Next 30 days · Sep 16, 2026
Known exploitationUnconfirmed
Based on sourced intelligence
Hinoki checkNot available
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Summary

What happened

Path traversal in the OpenLiteSpeed and LiteSpeed Web Server WebAdmin Console allows remote authenticated users to read forbidden web-root files. Two URL-filtering regular expressions in httpserver.cpp fail to reject traversal characters, allowing requests to reach otherwise forbidden paths. Exploitation requires WebAdmin authentication and root privileges to place a target under /usr/local/lsws/admin/html; reads remain confined to the web root.

The record

CVE
CVE-2022-0072
Published
Oct 27, 2022
Updated
May 9, 2025
Vendor
LiteSpeed Technologies
Product
OpenLiteSpeed
Classifications
CWE-22, CAPEC-126, T1005
Attack vector
network
Privileges
authenticated

Timeline

How it unfolded

  1. Oct 27, 2022CVE publishedPublication date reported by the CVE source.
  2. May 9, 2025Record updatedLatest update available in the CVE record.

Exploitability

Present is not the same as exploitable

Compare your product and version with the public record. A matching version still requires validation against your environment.

Is a vulnerable build present?

Compare these published version ranges with your installed build and any vendor patches.

  1. Affected versionversion=1.5.11 <=1.5.12
  2. Affected versionversion=1.6.5 <=1.6.20.1
  3. Affected versionversion=1.7.0 <1.7.16.1

What conditions does exploitation require?

Attack vectornetwork
Required privilegesauthenticated

What is affected?

LiteSpeed Technologies · OpenLiteSpeedversion=1.5.11 <=1.5.12; version=1.6.5 <=1.6.20.1; version=1.7.0 <1.7.16.1
LiteSpeed Technologies · LiteSpeed Web Serverversion=1.5.11 <=1.5.12; version=1.6.5 <=1.6.20.1; version=1.7.0 <1.7.16.1

Published CVSS scores

5.8Palo Alto Networks CNACVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:L/PR:N/UI:N/S:C/C:L/I:N/A:N

CVSS describes severity. EPSS estimates exploitation probability.

Attacks

What attackers are doing with it

Daily unique IPs observed by Shadowserver honeypots for known exploited vulnerabilities (KEVs). Missing observations do not establish an absence of attacks.

Daily unique IPsNo honeypot observations are available for this CVE in the selected window.

No observations available

Sep 9, 2026Sep 15, 2026
Latest reporting daySep 15, 2026
Latest daily unique IPsUnavailable
Prior 30-day averageUnavailable
SourceShadowserver honeypots (KEV)
Vectornetwork
Privilegesauthenticated
Known exploitationUnconfirmed
Public exploitUnconfirmed

Weakness, pattern, technique

CWE-22Improper Limitation of a Pathname to a Restricted Directory ('Path Traversal')
CAPEC-126Path Traversal
T1005Data from Local System

Public exploit references

No public exploit references are available in this record.

Labels summarize the accepted research assessment. They do not indicate a test against your environment.

Technologies

Your stack

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Your stack

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