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Maximo Application SuiteApplication · Ibm

CVE-2022-35281

HIGH · 8.8 CVSS v3.1 Published 2023-01-09
Mitigation only
No fix yet — a mitigation exists. There is no fixed release. A documented workaround reduces exposure in the meantime.
See remediation →
95/100
Remediation priority · Urgent
Remotely reachable No privileges

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
IBM Maximo Asset Management 7.6.1.1, 7.6.1.2, 7.6.1.3 and the IBM Maximo Manage 8.3, 8.4 application in IBM Maximo Application Suite are vulnerable to CSV injection. IBM X-Force ID: 2306335.

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 · high confidence

IBM Maximo Asset Management (versions 7.6.1.1-7.6.1.3) and Maximo Manage (8.3, 8.4) in the Maximo Application Suite are vulnerable to CSV injection. The application fails to sanitize special characters (particularly formula injection characters like =, +, -, @) from user-supplied data when exporting to CSV format, allowing attackers to embed malicious formulas that execute arbitrary commands when the CSV is opened in spreadsheet software.

MitigationImplement input validation with an allowlist approach to strip or escape formula characters (=, +, -, @, tab, CR) from untrusted data before CSV export, and apply output encoding to neutralize formula injection payloads.

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
Maximo Application SuiteApplication
Affected:= 8.3= 8.4
Maximo Asset ManagementApplication
Affected:= 7.6.1.1= 7.6.1.2= 7.6.1.3

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
None
User interaction
Required
Scope
Unchanged
Confidentiality
High
Integrity
High
Availability
High

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

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. Identify product and version
    Locate the installed IBM Maximo product and determine its exact version number. For Maximo Asset Management, check About or system information in the application. For Maximo Application Suite, check the MAS version.
    Affected if The product is Maximo Asset Management version 7.6.1.1, 7.6.1.2, or 7.6.1.3, OR Maximo Application Suite version 8.3 or 8.4.
  2. Confirm CSV export is accessible
    Determine if the CSV export functionality is available and accessible in the environment. This typically involves checking if users can export data to CSV format from reports, queries, or data sheets.
    Affected if CSV export feature is enabled and users have permission to export data to CSV files.
  3. Check for untrusted data sources
    Identify if the system processes or stores data from external or untrusted sources that could be included in CSV exports. This includes user-uploaded content, external integrations, or third-party data feeds.
    Affected if Untrusted or external data can be included in CSV exports without sanitization.
  4. Inspect exported CSV for unsanitized characters
    Export a sample CSV file from the application and examine the contents. Open the CSV in a text editor and look for cells containing characters =, +, -, @, tab, or CR at the beginning of data values.
    Affected if Special formula characters (=, +, -, @) appear unmodified in exported CSV files.

You are affected if you run an affected version (Maximo Asset Management 7.6.1.1-7.6.1.3 or Maximo Application Suite 8.3/8.4) AND use CSV export functionality with data that may contain untrusted input with special characters.

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
Mitigation available No clean upgrade yet — mitigate in the meantime
Mitigation

Implement input validation with an allowlist approach to strip or escape formula characters (=, +, -, @, tab, CR) from untrusted data before CSV export, and apply output encoding to neutralize formula injection payloads.

Recommended fix Moderate confidence

Maximo Asset Management 7.6.1.4+; Maximo Application Suite Manage 8.5+

  1. 1. Review the official IBM security bulletin for CVE-2022-35281 at www.ibm.com for detailed patch information
  2. 2. For Maximo Asset Management 7.6.1.1, 7.6.1.2, 7.6.1.3: upgrade to version 7.6.1.4 or later which contains the security fix
  3. 3. For Maximo Application Suite Manage 8.3, 8.4: upgrade to version 8.5 or later which contains the security fix
  4. 4. After upgrading, verify the CSV injection vulnerability is resolved by testing CSV exports
  5. 5. Ensure all subsequent exports properly sanitize or escape special characters (=, +, -, @, tab, carriage return) in data fields
Caveat Standard IBM Maximo upgrade considerations apply - review migration guides and test in non-production environment before production deployment

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

Fix this in Maximo Application Suite Scoped from the published advisory
  • Consultation4.0 h
  • Implementation8.0 h
  • Testing6.0 h
  • Review / QA4.0 h
22.0 hours of engineering $3,860
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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-2022-35281 in production — separate from our analysis above.

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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