# CVE-2022-21690: Cross-Site Scripting in Onionshare

> Attackers can inject malicious scripts via URL paths in OnionShare's history view, potentially compromising user sessions or executing code.

- **Severity:** High 8.7 (`CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:L/PR:L/UI:R/S:C/C:H/I:H/A:N`)
- **Exploited in the wild:** Not known
- **Login needed:** Any signed-in user
- **Attackable:** Over the internet
- **Victim action needed:** A user has to click or open something
- **Fix available:** Yes
- **Published:** 18 Jan 2022
- **Updated:** 22 Apr 2025
- **Also known as:** DEBIAN-CVE-2022-21690, GHSA-ch22-x2v3-v6vq, PYSEC-2022-41

## What is CVE-2022-21690?

CVE-2022-21690 is a high-severity cross-site scripting vulnerability in onionshare, published on 18 Jan 2022. Any signed-in user can exploit it over the network, and only if a user opens a file or follows a link.

### Official description

OnionShare is an open source tool that lets you securely and anonymously share files, host websites, and chat with friends using the Tor network. In affected versions The path parameter of the requested URL is not sanitized before being passed to the QT frontend. This path is used in all components for displaying the server access history. This leads to a rendered HTML4 Subset (QT RichText editor) in the Onionshare frontend.

Weakness: CWE-79 (Improper Neutralization of Input During Web Page Generation)

## Which versions are affected by CVE-2022-21690?

3 open source packages ship an affected version, including onionshare-cli. It affects 1 product.


| Package | Ecosystem | Affected | Fixed in |
| --- | --- | --- | --- |
| `onionshare-cli` | PyPI | All versions | 2.5 |
| `onionshare-cli` | PyPI | All versions | 2.5 |
| `onionshare-cli` | PyPI | All versions | 2.5 |

Products: Onionshare Onionshare.

## How do I fix CVE-2022-21690?

Upgrade onionshare-cli to 2.5 or later.

## Is CVE-2022-21690 being exploited?

It is not confirmed as exploited in the wild, but public exploit code for CVE-2022-21690 exists.

## Other vulnerabilities in onionshare

- [CVE-2021-41868](https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2021-41868/): Remote unauthenticated attackers able to upload files in Onionshare (critical 9.8)
- [CVE-2022-21688](https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2022-21688/): Out-of-bounds Read in Onionshare (high 7.5)
- [CVE-2022-21689](https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2022-21689/): Denial of Service in Onionshare (high 7.5)
- [CVE-2018-19960](https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2018-19960/): Path traversal in n/a (high 7.0)
- [CVE-2022-21693](https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2022-21693/): Path traversal in Onionshare (medium 6.3)

## Fix prompt for AI coding agents

```text
Check this codebase for CVE-2022-21690 and fix it if it is affected.

What it is: CVE-2022-21690 is a high-severity cross-site scripting vulnerability in onionshare, published on 18 Jan 2022. Any signed-in user can exploit it over the network, and only if a user opens a file or follows a link.
Exploitation: It is not confirmed as exploited in the wild, but public exploit code for CVE-2022-21690 exists.

Affected packages and fixed versions:
- onionshare-cli (PyPI): affected all versions; fixed in 2.5
- onionshare-cli (PyPI): affected all versions; fixed in 2.5
- onionshare-cli (PyPI): affected all versions; fixed in 2.5

Task:
1. Search the dependency manifests and lockfiles (for example package.json, package-lock.json, requirements.txt, poetry.lock, uv.lock, pom.xml, build.gradle, go.mod, Cargo.lock, Gemfile.lock) and any Dockerfiles for the affected packages, including transitive dependencies.
2. If an affected version is in use, upgrade it to the fixed version for its release line with the project's package manager, so the lockfile is regenerated. Prefer the smallest upgrade that fixes it.
3. If there is no fix, or the upgrade would break the build, do not guess: explain the risk and the safest workaround instead.
4. Run the tests and summarise what changed and why.
5. If nothing in the project is affected, say so and change nothing.

Reference: https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2022-21690/ (Markdown: https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2022-21690/index.md)
```

## Sources

- CVE record: https://www.cve.org/CVERecord?id=CVE-2022-21690
- NVD: https://nvd.nist.gov/vuln/detail/CVE-2022-21690
- OSV: https://osv.dev/vulnerability/CVE-2022-21690

---
From sbomify Insights: https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2022-21690/
Summaries are generated and may contain mistakes; the official description above is the record.