CVE-2022-26616
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 · uneditedPKP Vendor Open Journal System v2.4.8 to v3.3.8 allows attackers to perform reflected cross-site scripting (XSS) attacks via crafted HTTP headers.
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 confidenceOpen Journal Systems (OJS) versions 2.4.8 through 3.3.8 contain a reflected cross-site scripting (XSS) vulnerability where malicious script can be injected via crafted HTTP headers. The vulnerability allows remote attackers to execute arbitrary JavaScript in the context of a user's browser by sending specially crafted header values that are reflected back in the application's response without proper sanitization.
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>= 2.4.8, < 3.3.0-9CVSS 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
- None
- User interaction
- Required
- Scope
- Changed
- Confidentiality
- Low
- Integrity
- Low
- Availability
- None
CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:L/PR:N/UI:R/S:C/C:L/I:L/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 checksWork through these to decide whether this CVE applies to you.
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Identify OJS installation versionCheck the version file at lib/pkp/VERSION, or look at the footer of any OJS admin page, or view config.php for a version entry, or access the About page at /aboutAffected if The installed version is 2.4.8 or higher but lower than 3.3.0-9
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Confirm the version falls within vulnerable rangeCompare your identified version against the affected range: >= 2.4.8 and < 3.3.0-9Affected if Your version matches this range indicating the unpatched software is present
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Verify HTTP header reflection is possibleSend a crafted HTTP request with a malicious script in a header (such as User-Agent, Referer, or custom header) and observe if the value is reflected unsanitized in the responseAffected if The application reflects your injected header value back in the HTML response without encoding or sanitization
You are affected if your OJS installation version is between 2.4.8 and 3.3.0-9 inclusive, and the application reflects HTTP header values into its responses without proper sanitization.
Generated from the published advisory. Verify against your own configuration.
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 · scoped3.3.0-9
Upgrade OJS to version 3.3.8.1 or later which contains the security patch. Until patching is feasible, implement WAF rules to filter malicious header content and enable HTTP header validation at the web server level.
3.3.0-10 or later (ensure version is >= 3.3.0-9)
- 1. Back up your current Open Journal Systems installation and database
- 2. Download the fixed version (3.3.0-10 or later from the PKP website or GitHub releases)
- 3. Extract the new version files to your server
- 4. Update your OJS installation by replacing the core files, preserving your config file and any customizations
- 5. Clear any application caches
- 6. Verify the application is functioning correctly
- 7. Test that HTTP header injection no longer executes arbitrary JavaScript
Generated from the published advisory — verify against the referenced sources before acting.
- Consultation4.0 h
- Implementation8.0 h
- Testing6.0 h
- Review / QA3.0 h
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Scan for this in your stack
Free · runs locallyCheck whether your project pulls in CVE-2022-26616 — or any other known-vulnerable package — straight from your lock files. Free and open source; it runs locally and uploads nothing.
References Go to the primary sourcePrimary sources — vendor advisories, patches and trackers. Where our summary and a reference disagree, the reference wins.
Primary sourcesPractitioner notes
ContributedPeer-ranked notes from engineers who’ve handled CVE-2022-26616 in production — separate from our analysis above.
The advisory tells you what broke. It rarely tells you what actually worked. If you’ve dealt with this one, that detail is what the next engineer is searching for.
- The version that genuinely resolved it — not the one the vendor claimed
- A config change or rule that shut the vector down
- A gotcha in the upgrade path that cost you an afternoon
No notes yet
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- Version or environment caveats, and links to real fixes
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