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DrupalCMS

CVE-2022-25278

MEDIUM · 6.5 CVSS v3.1 Published 2023-04-26
Fix available
A fix is available. Upgrade to 9.3.19 / 9.4.3 or later.
See remediation →
71/100
Remediation priority · Elevated
Remotely reachable Zero-click

Official description Straight from the sourceThe vendor's or NVD's own wording, published unedited. Authoritative, but often terse — it says what broke, rarely what to do.

NVD · unedited
Under certain circumstances, the Drupal core form API evaluates form element access incorrectly. This may lead to a user being able to alter data they should not have access to. No forms provided by Drupal core are known to be vulnerable. However, forms added through contributed or custom modules or themes may be affected.

Technical summary Written by usOur analysis, written from the advisory, the CVSS vector and the affected-version data. It adds context the advisory leaves out, and never invents facts that are not in the source.

dbcve analysis · moderate confidence

Drupal core's form API has an access control bypass where form element access checks are evaluated incorrectly under certain conditions, potentially allowing authenticated users to alter data they should not have access to through form submissions.

MitigationUpdate Drupal core to the patched version and audit custom/contributed modules and themes for form access control implementations that may be affected by this vulnerability.

Verify against the referenced sources before acting — the references below are authoritative for this CVE, this summary is not.

Affected products & versions What the vendor confirmedThe version ranges the vendor confirmed as vulnerable. If your version sits inside a range here, treat yourself as exposed until you have upgraded.

NVD · CPE data
DrupalCMS
Affected:>= 8.0.0, < 9.3.19>= 9.4.0, < 9.4.3

CVSS breakdown How the score is builtThe industry scoring standard. It rates how the flaw is reached, what it takes to exploit, and what an attacker gains — the score is derived from those, not the other way round.

From the vector
Attack vector
Network
Complexity
Low
Privileges
Low
User interaction
None
Scope
Unchanged
Confidentiality
None
Integrity
High
Availability
None

CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:L/PR:L/UI:N/S:U/C:N/I:H/A:N

Am I affected? How to checkSteps we derive from the advisory and the affected-version data, so you can decide whether this CVE reaches your setup. They are a guide, not a scan — your own configuration is the authority.

dbcve checks

Work through these to decide whether this CVE applies to you.

  1. Determine Drupal core version
    Access the site status report at /admin/reports/status or check the VERSION constant in the Drupal core's bootstrap.inc or composer.json file in the web root
    Affected if The installed version is >= 8.0.0 and < 9.3.19, or >= 9.4.0 and < 9.4.3
  2. Check for authenticated user accounts
    Review user roles and permissions in /admin/config/people/roles and verify if any roles have access to forms
    Affected if The site has authenticated users with access to any forms that contain access-controlled elements
  3. Identify custom or contributed modules using form access controls
    Review the modules directory for custom code and check contributed modules at /admin/modules for any that implement hook_element_info_alter or form access callbacks
    Affected if Custom or contributed modules define form elements with access restrictions that could be bypassed
  4. Audit form submissions for unauthorized access attempts
    Review logs in /admin/reports/dblog for form-related access violations or unexpected data changes
    Affected if There are records of authenticated users accessing or modifying data through forms they should not have access to
  5. Check Drupal core file integrity
    Verify the integrity of core files, particularly includes/common.inc and form API related files in includes/form/
    Affected if Core form API files have been modified from their original state

A site is affected if it runs Drupal core version 8.0.0 to 9.3.18, or 9.4.0 to 9.4.2, and has authenticated users who can access forms with access-controlled elements.

Generated from the published advisory. Verify against your own configuration.

Check your environment

Paste your version and any relevant configuration and it will be compared against the affected criteria above. Do not include secrets or credentials.

AI-assisted, checked against the advisory. Informational, not a guarantee.

Remediation Closing itWhat it takes to close this. Where a vendor fix exists we point at it; where none exists we say so plainly, and can build one. Effort estimates are scoped from the advisory, not from your codebase.

dbcve · scoped
Upgrade available Upgrade to 9.3.19 / 9.4.3 or later
Fixed in 9.3.199.4.3
Interim mitigation

Update Drupal core to the patched version and audit custom/contributed modules and themes for form access control implementations that may be affected by this vulnerability.

Recommended fix High confidence

Drupal 9.3.19 or 9.4.3 (depending on your current branch)

  1. Backup your Drupal database and codebase before upgrading
  2. If using Composer for Drupal core management, run: composer require drupal/core:^9.3.19 --no-interaction --update-with-all-dependencies (for 9.3.x installations)
  3. Alternatively, if on 9.4.x branch, run: composer require drupal/core:^9.4.3 --no-interaction --update-with-all-dependencies
  4. Clear Drupal caches after upgrade using drush cr or manually deleting var/cache or sites/default/files/php
  5. Verify the upgrade by checking the Drupal version at admin/reports/status
  6. Test your custom and contributed modules to confirm they function correctly with the fixed version
Caveat Review module and theme compatibility; some contrib modules may require updates for Drupal 9.3+ or 9.4+

Generated from the published advisory — verify against the referenced sources before acting.

Fix this in Drupal Scoped from the published advisory
  • Consultation2.0 h
  • Implementation4.0 h
  • Testing8.0 h
  • Review / QA4.0 h
18.0 hours of engineering $3,040
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References Go to the primary sourcePrimary sources — vendor advisories, patches and trackers. Where our summary and a reference disagree, the reference wins.

Primary sources

Practitioner notes

Contributed

Peer-ranked notes from engineers who’ve handled CVE-2022-25278 in production — separate from our analysis above.

No notes yet

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What this is

A place for practitioners to share what actually worked: a mitigation you’ve tested, a configuration change, a version- or environment-specific caveat, or a link to a verified patch. The most useful notes rise to the top as peers upvote them, so the signal stays high.

What belongs here
  • Verified mitigations, workarounds, and config changes
  • Version or environment caveats, and links to real fixes
  • No weaponised exploit code, or anything meant to cause harm
  • No spam, self-promotion, credentials, or personal data