dbcve.org
Portal For ArcgisApplication · Esri

CVE-2022-38209

MEDIUM · 6.1 CVSS v3.1 Published 2022-12-29
Fix available
A fix is available. Upgrade to after 10.9.1 or later.
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
There is a reflected XSS vulnerability in Esri Portal for ArcGIS versions 10.9.1 and below which may allow a remote, unauthenticated attacker to create a crafted link which when clicked could 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 confidence

Reflected XSS vulnerability in Esri Portal for ArcGIS versions 10.9.1 and below allows remote, unauthenticated attackers to craft malicious links that execute arbitrary JavaScript in victim browsers when clicked.

MitigationUpdate Esri Portal for ArcGIS to a version above 10.9.1 or apply vendor-supplied patch; implement output encoding and input validation as defense-in-depth.

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
Portal For ArcgisApplication
Affected:<= 10.9.1

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. Identify the installed Esri Portal for ArcGIS version
    Log into the Portal Administrator Directory (usually at https://<host>/portal/portaladmin) and navigate to System > Properties > Properties. Alternatively, check the installation logs or the 'about' page in the Portal website.
    Affected if The version listed is 10.9.1 or any version lower than 10.9.1
  2. Confirm the Portal web interface is accessible
    Attempt to access the Portal homepage from a browser (e.g., https://<host>/portal). A successful HTTP response indicates the web interface is running.
    Affected if The Portal web interface returns a 200 OK response and is reachable
  3. Determine if anonymous or external access is enabled
    In the Portal Administrator Directory, navigate to Security > Configuration > Update Configuration and check the 'anonymousAccess' setting, or examine the web adaptor's configuration if one is deployed.
    Affected if Anonymous access is enabled or the Portal is exposed externally, allowing unauthenticated users to reach the vulnerable endpoint
  4. Review web request logging for suspicious URLs
    Examine web server, web adaptor, or reverse proxy logs for requests containing script tags, javascript:, or alert() in URL parameters pointing to the Portal endpoint.
    Affected if Log entries show malicious XSS payloads in requests to Portal URLs

You are affected if Esri Portal for ArcGIS is version 10.9.1 or below AND the web interface is accessible to unauthenticated or external users.

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 a release after 10.9.1
Interim mitigation

Update Esri Portal for ArcGIS to a version above 10.9.1 or apply vendor-supplied patch; implement output encoding and input validation as defense-in-depth.

Recommended fix Moderate confidence

Portal for ArcGIS 10.10 or later (latest stable release)

  1. 1. Identify the current Portal for ArcGIS version in use by navigating to the Portal administrator directory (e.g., https://portal.domain.com/arcgis/portaladmin)
  2. 2. Confirm the installed version is 10.9.1 or below
  3. 3. Download the latest version of Portal for ArcGIS from the Esri Customer Portal (requires valid maintenance subscription)
  4. 4. Review Esri's upgrade documentation and pre-requisites for Portal for ArcGIS
  5. 5. Perform a full backup of the portal configuration, content, and database
  6. 6. Execute the upgrade following Esri's documented upgrade procedures
  7. 7. Verify the upgrade was successful and the portal is operational
  8. 8. Validate that the XSS vulnerability is remediated by testing the affected endpoint
Caveat Review Esri's upgrade path documentation - major version upgrades may require migration steps and have compatibility considerations with existing content and integrations

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

Fix this in Portal For Arcgis Scoped from the published advisory
  • Consultation3.0 h
  • Implementation6.0 h
  • Testing4.0 h
  • Review / QA2.0 h
15.0 hours of engineering $2,640
Get the upgrade done

An estimate, not a bill — we confirm scope with you before any work starts. Need it this week? Rush from $4,224.

Scan for this in your stack

Free · runs locally
dbcve dependency scanner

Check whether your project pulls in CVE-2022-38209 — or any other known-vulnerable package — straight from your lock files. Free and open source; it runs locally and uploads nothing.

Get it on GitHub Scan in the browser

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-2022-38209 in production — separate from our analysis above.

No notes yet

Be the first to add a field note for this CVE — a mitigation you’ve verified, a version caveat, or a link to a working fix. Sign in above to contribute.

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