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ServicenowApplication

CVE-2022-38172

MEDIUM · 6.1 CVSS v3.1 Published 2022-08-23
Mitigation only
No fix yet — a mitigation exists. There is no fixed release. A documented workaround reduces exposure in the meantime.
See remediation →
68/100
Remediation priority · Elevated
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
ServiceNow through San Diego Patch 3 allows XSS via the name field during creation of a new dashboard for the Performance Analytics dashboard.

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

ServiceNow through San Diego Patch 3 contains a reflected Cross-Site Scripting (XSS) vulnerability in the Performance Analytics dashboard creation feature. The vulnerability exists because the name field used when creating a new dashboard does not properly sanitize user-supplied input, allowing an attacker to inject malicious JavaScript code that executes in the context of other users' sessions when they view the dashboard.

MitigationImplement proper input validation and output encoding on the dashboard name field in the Performance Analytics module. Apply the latest ServiceNow security patches for the San Diego release train.

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
ServicenowApplication
Affected:= san_diego

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
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 checks

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

  1. Confirm ServiceNow instance version
    Navigate to System Diagnostics > System Overview or check the /nav_to.do?uri=%2F$index.do page to find the exact release version (e.g., San Diego Patch 1, 2, or 3)
    Affected if The instance is running any San Diego release (version 2022) without the latest security patches applied to this release train
  2. Verify Performance Analytics module is enabled
    Navigate to Performance Analytics > Dashboards or search for 'Performance Analytics' in the application navigator to confirm the module is accessible
    Affected if The Performance Analytics module is available and accessible to users in the instance
  3. Check if dashboard creation is permitted
    Navigate to Performance Analytics > Dashboards and attempt to locate the 'New Dashboard' or 'Create Dashboard' option. Verify user roles include the ability to create dashboards (typically 'pa_dashboards' or 'admin' roles)
    Affected if Users with standard or elevated roles can access the dashboard creation interface in Performance Analytics
  4. Inspect dashboard name input handling
    Create a test dashboard with a non-malicious test string in the name field (e.g., 'TestDashboard') and verify how it is rendered when the dashboard is saved and viewed. If output encoding is missing, the test string would be reflected as-is
    Affected if The dashboard name field accepts free-form input and reflects it without visible sanitization or encoding in the rendered dashboard view

You are affected if your ServiceNow instance is on the San Diego release train, Performance Analytics is enabled, and users can create dashboards with arbitrary name fields that are not properly output-encoded.

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 proper input validation and output encoding on the dashboard name field in the Performance Analytics module. Apply the latest ServiceNow security patches for the San Diego release train.

Recommended fix Moderate confidence

San Diego Patch 4 or later (or latest available San Diego patch/hotfix containing the security fix)

  1. 1. Navigate to the ServiceNow documentation portal (support.servicenow.com) to locate the security patch for CVE-2022-38172
  2. 2. Identify the specific patch or hotfix that addresses the XSS vulnerability in the Performance Analytics dashboard name field
  3. 3. Apply the patch following ServiceNow's standard patch deployment procedures
  4. 4. Verify the patch was successfully applied by checking the system version information
  5. 5. Test that the Performance Analytics dashboard creation functionality works correctly after the patch
Caveat Review ServiceNow release notes for any breaking changes between your current patch level and the target patch

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

Fix this in Servicenow Scoped from the published advisory
  • Consultation2.0 h
  • Implementation4.0 h
  • Testing3.0 h
  • Review / QA2.0 h
11.0 hours of engineering $1,930
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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-2022-38172 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