CVE-2022-21223Public exploitNetwork attack vector

Arbitrary command execution via Mercurial option injection

Published Apr 1, 2022 · Updated Sep 17, 2024

Command injection in CocoaPods Downloader before 1.6.2 allows remote attackers to execute arbitrary commands through crafted Mercurial source data. The Mercurial downloader passes the URL, revision, branch, or tag to hg clone without rejecting option-like values, so an injected --config alias runs a command. Exploitation requires an application to pass attacker-controlled Mercurial download options; commands run with that application's privileges.

CVSS severity8.1
High
EPSS probability1.69%
Next 30 days · Sep 16, 2026
Known exploitationUnconfirmed
Based on sourced intelligence
Hinoki checkNot available
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Summary

What happened

Command injection in CocoaPods Downloader before 1.6.2 allows remote attackers to execute arbitrary commands through crafted Mercurial source data. The Mercurial downloader passes the URL, revision, branch, or tag to hg clone without rejecting option-like values, so an injected --config alias runs a command. Exploitation requires an application to pass attacker-controlled Mercurial download options; commands run with that application's privileges.

The record

CVE
CVE-2022-21223
Published
Apr 1, 2022
Updated
Sep 17, 2024
Vendor
CocoaPods
Product
CocoaPods Downloader
Classifications
CWE-88, CWE-74, T1059
Attack vector
network
Privileges
unauthenticated

Timeline

How it unfolded

  1. Apr 1, 2022CVE publishedPublication date reported by the CVE source.
  2. Sep 17, 2024Record updatedLatest update available in the CVE record.

Exploitability

Present is not the same as exploitable

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Is a vulnerable build present?

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

  1. Affected versionversion=unspecified <1.6.2

What conditions does exploitation require?

Attack vectornetwork
Required privilegesunauthenticated

What is affected?

CocoaPods · CocoaPods Downloaderversion=unspecified <1.6.2

Published CVSS scores

9.8NIST NVDCVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:L/PR:N/UI:N/S:U/C:H/I:H/A:H
7.5NIST NVDAV:N/AC:L/Au:N/C:P/I:P/A:P
8.1GitHub Advisory DatabaseCVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:H/PR:N/UI:N/S:U/C:H/I:H/A:H

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 10, 2026Sep 16, 2026
Latest reporting daySep 16, 2026
Latest daily unique IPsUnavailable
Prior 30-day averageUnavailable
SourceShadowserver honeypots (KEV)
Vectornetwork
Privilegesunauthenticated
Known exploitationUnconfirmed
Public exploitPublished

Weakness, pattern, technique

CWE-88Improper Neutralization of Argument Delimiters in a Command ('Argument Injection')
CWE-74Improper Neutralization of Special Elements in Output Used by a Downstream Component ('Injection')
T1059Command and Scripting Interpreter

Public exploit references

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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