CVE-2022-38195
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 · uneditedThere is as reflected cross site scripting issue in Esri ArcGIS Server versions 10.9.1 and below which may allow a remote unauthorized attacker able to convince a user to click on a crafted link which could potentially execute arbitrary JavaScript code in the victim’s browser.
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 confidenceA reflected cross-site scripting (XSS) vulnerability exists in Esri ArcGIS Server 10.9.1 and below. An unauthenticated attacker can craft a malicious URL containing arbitrary JavaScript that gets reflected back to the victim's browser without proper input sanitization or output encoding, potentially enabling session hijacking or credential theft.
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<= 10.9.1CVSS 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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Determine ArcGIS Server versionAccess the ArcGIS Server Administrator Directory at https://<server>:6443/arcgis/admin/system/platform, or check the Windows Services list for 'ArcGIS Server' and view its properties, or run 'arcgis/admin/clusters' via the REST admin endpoint to retrieve version information.Affected if Version is 10.9.1 or lower (any version up to and including 10.9.1)
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Identify endpoints that reflect user inputReview the ArcGIS Server REST Services Directory at https://<server>:6443/arcgis/rest/services and note any custom services or query endpoints that accept URL parameters and return those values in the response.Affected if Any endpoint accepts URL parameters and reflects them in the HTML output without indicating the values are properly encoded
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Test for reflected XSS with a benign payloadUsing a browser or curl, submit a request to a suspected endpoint with a test parameter value such as '<script>alert(1)</script>' in the URL query string (e.g., ?input=%3Cscript%3Ealert(1)%3C/script%3E) and observe whether the script tags appear literally in the response or are executed as JavaScript.Affected if The payload is reflected back as '<script>alert(1)</script>' without HTML encoding (appearing as literal tags in the page source) or causes an alert dialog
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Verify output encoding is absentView the page source (View > Page Source) of the response and search for your test payload; if it appears as raw '<script>' tags or unencoded HTML entities rather than being converted to '<script>', output encoding is not being applied.Affected if The injected script tags are returned unencoded in the HTML response
You are affected if ArcGIS Server version is 10.9.1 or below AND any REST endpoint reflects user-supplied URL parameters back into the HTML response without proper encoding.
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 · scopedUpgrade ArcGIS Server to a version above 10.9.1 if a patched release is available, or implement proper input validation and output encoding on the vulnerable endpoint(s) to prevent script injection.
Upgrade to a version higher than 10.9.1 (e.g., 10.9.2 or latest available release)
- 1. Identify the current ArcGIS Server version by accessing the ArcGIS Server Administrator Directory and reviewing the version information.
- 2. Before upgrading, review Esri's upgrade documentation and check for any compatibility requirements or prerequisites.
- 3. Ensure you have a complete backup of your ArcGIS Server configuration and data.
- 4. Download the latest version of ArcGIS Server from the Esri Customer Portal (https://my.esri.com/).
- 5. Follow Esri's official upgrade instructions to install the newer version, which includes the security fix for CVE-2022-38195.
- 6. After upgrade, verify that the XSS vulnerability is resolved by testing that the reflected XSS vector no longer executes in the browser.
- 7. Validate that all services and applications function correctly post-upgrade.
Generated from the published advisory — verify against the referenced sources before acting.
- Consultation4.0 h
- Implementation8.0 h
- Testing4.0 h
- Review / QA3.0 h
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Scan for this in your stack
Free · runs locallyCheck whether your project pulls in CVE-2022-38195 — 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-2022-38195 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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- 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