# CVE-2022-3988: Frappe Search navbar_search.html cross site scripting

> Remote attackers can execute arbitrary scripts via the search query parameter in Frappe's navbar search template.

- **Severity:** Low 3.5 (`CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:L/PR:L/UI:R/S:U/C:N/I:L/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:** No
- **Published:** 14 Nov 2022
- **Updated:** 15 Apr 2025
- **Also known as:** GHSA-jv4j-4xv7-555r

## What is CVE-2022-3988?

CVE-2022-3988 is a low-severity cross-site scripting vulnerability in unspecified Frappe, published on 14 Nov 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

A vulnerability was found in Frappe. It has been rated as problematic. Affected by this issue is some unknown functionality of the file frappe/templates/includes/navbar/navbar_search.html of the component Search. The manipulation of the argument q leads to cross site scripting. The attack may be launched remotely. The name of the patch is bfab7191543961c6cb77fe267063877c31b616ce. It is recommended to apply a patch to fix this issue. The identifier of this vulnerability is VDB-213560.

Weakness: CWE-79 (Improper Neutralization of Input During Web Page Generation), CWE-707 (Improper Neutralization)

## Which versions are affected by CVE-2022-3988?

It affects 1 product.


Products: Frappe Frappe.

## How do I fix CVE-2022-3988?

No fix has been published for CVE-2022-3988 yet. Limit exposure of the affected software until one is available.

## Is CVE-2022-3988 being exploited?

There is no known exploitation of CVE-2022-3988 in the wild and no public exploit code.

## Other vulnerabilities in unspecified Frappe

- [CVE-2019-14965](https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2019-14965/): Code injection in n/a (critical 9.8)
- [CVE-2026-35614](https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2026-35614/): Frappe has a SQL injection in bulk_update (critical 9.3)
- [CVE-2026-31877](https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2026-31877/): Frappe SQL Injection due to improper field sanitization (critical 9.3)
- [CVE-2025-68929](https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2025-68929/): Frappe may be vulnerable remote code execution due to server-side template injection (critical 9.1)
- [CVE-2019-14966](https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2019-14966/): SQL injection in n/a (high 8.8)

## Fix prompt for AI coding agents

```text
Check this codebase for CVE-2022-3988 and fix it if it is affected.

What it is: CVE-2022-3988 is a low-severity cross-site scripting vulnerability in unspecified Frappe, published on 14 Nov 2022. Any signed-in user can exploit it over the network, and only if a user opens a file or follows a link.
Exploitation: There is no known exploitation of CVE-2022-3988 in the wild and no public exploit code.

Affected product: unspecified Frappe. 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-2022-3988/ (Markdown: https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2022-3988/index.md)
```

## Sources

- CVE record: https://www.cve.org/CVERecord?id=CVE-2022-3988
- NVD: https://nvd.nist.gov/vuln/detail/CVE-2022-3988
- OSV: https://osv.dev/vulnerability/CVE-2022-3988

---
From sbomify Insights: https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2022-3988/
Summaries are generated and may contain mistakes; the official description above is the record.