# CVE-2022-23497: Insecure file access in FreshRSS

> Remote attackers can access user configuration files containing hashed passwords, exposing sensitive credentials in FreshRSS.

- **Severity:** Medium 6.5 (`CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:L/PR:N/UI:N/S:U/C:L/I:N/A:L`)
- **Exploited in the wild:** Not known
- **Login needed:** Not needed
- **Attackable:** Over the internet
- **Victim action needed:** Not needed
- **Fix available:** No
- **Published:** 9 Dec 2022
- **Updated:** 23 Apr 2025
- **Also known as:** GHSA-hvrj-5fwj-p7v6

## What is CVE-2022-23497?

CVE-2022-23497 is a medium-severity vulnerability in FreshRSS, published on 9 Dec 2022. An attacker can exploit it over the internet without logging in, with no action from the victim.

### Official description

FreshRSS is a free, self-hostable RSS aggregator. User configuration files can be accessed by a remote user. In addition to user preferences, such configurations contain hashed passwords (brypt with cost 9, salted) of FreshRSS Web interface. If the API is used, the configuration might contain a hashed password (brypt with cost 9, salted) of the GReader API, and a hashed password (MD5 salted) of the Fever API. Users should update to version 1.20.2 or edge. Users unable to upgrade can apply the patch manually or delete the file `./FreshRSS/p/ext.php`.

Weakness: CWE-200 (Exposure of Sensitive Information to an Unauthorized Actor)

## Which versions are affected by CVE-2022-23497?

It affects 1 product.


Products: Freshrss Freshrss.

## How do I fix CVE-2022-23497?

No fix has been published for CVE-2022-23497 yet. Limit exposure of the affected software until one is available.

## Is CVE-2022-23497 being exploited?

There is no known exploitation of CVE-2022-23497 in the wild and no public exploit code.

## Other vulnerabilities in FreshRSS

- [CVE-2025-54875](https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2025-54875/): FreshRSS: Unauthorized creation of admin user when registration is enabled (critical 9.8)
- [CVE-2025-54592](https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2025-54592/): FreshRSS has Incomplete Session Termination on Logout (high 8.8)
- [CVE-2025-62166](https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2025-62166/): FreshRSS has an IDOR which allows for viewing feeds of any user and leaking tokens (high 7.5)
- [CVE-2025-54591](https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2025-54591/): FreshRSS: Unauthenticated users can view default user's information (high 7.5)
- [CVE-2025-58173](https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2025-58173/): FreshRSS vulnerable to authenticated RCE via path traversal inside include() (high 7.4)

## Fix prompt for AI coding agents

```text
Check this codebase for CVE-2022-23497 and fix it if it is affected.

What it is: CVE-2022-23497 is a medium-severity vulnerability in FreshRSS, published on 9 Dec 2022. An attacker can exploit it over the internet without logging in, with no action from the victim.
Exploitation: There is no known exploitation of CVE-2022-23497 in the wild and no public exploit code.

Affected product: FreshRSS. No package-level version data is available, so check the vendor advisory linked from the reference page.

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-2022-23497/ (Markdown: https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2022-23497/index.md)
```

## Sources

- CVE record: https://www.cve.org/CVERecord?id=CVE-2022-23497
- NVD: https://nvd.nist.gov/vuln/detail/CVE-2022-23497
- OSV: https://osv.dev/vulnerability/CVE-2022-23497

---
From sbomify Insights: https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2022-23497/
Summaries are generated and may contain mistakes; the official description above is the record.