# CVE-2022-4261: Rapid7 Nexpose Update Validation Issue

> Attackers can execute malicious code by providing unvalidated updates to Rapid7 Nexpose or InsightVM, requiring MITM or privileged access.

- **Severity:** Medium 4.4 (`CVSS:3.1/AV:L/AC:H/PR:L/UI:R/S:U/C:N/I:H/A:N`)
- **Exploited in the wild:** Not known
- **Login needed:** Any signed-in user
- **Attackable:** Local or same network only
- **Victim action needed:** A user has to click or open something
- **Fix available:** No
- **Published:** 7 Dec 2022
- **Updated:** 14 Apr 2025
- **Also known as:** GHSA-hvmw-5h37-j7f5

## What is CVE-2022-4261?

CVE-2022-4261 is a medium-severity vulnerability in Rapid7 InsightVM, published on 7 Dec 2022. It can only be exploited from the same machine or local network, and only if a user opens a file or follows a link.

### Official description

Rapid7 Nexpose and InsightVM versions prior to 6.6.172 failed to reliably validate the authenticity of update contents. This failure could allow an attacker to provide a malicious update and alter the functionality of Rapid7 Nexpose. The attacker would need some pre-existing mechanism to provide a malicious update, either through a social engineering effort, privileged access to replace downloaded updates in transit, or by performing an Attacker-in-the-Middle attack on the update service itself.

Weakness: CWE-494 (Download of Code Without Integrity Check)

## Which versions are affected by CVE-2022-4261?

It affects 2 products.


Products: Rapid7 Insightvm, Rapid7 Nexpose.

## How do I fix CVE-2022-4261?

No fix has been published for CVE-2022-4261 yet. Limit exposure of the affected software until one is available.

## Is CVE-2022-4261 being exploited?

There is no known exploitation of CVE-2022-4261 in the wild and no public exploit code.

## Other vulnerabilities in Rapid7 InsightVM

- [CVE-2017-5242](https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2017-5242/): Rapid7 Nexpose Virtual Appliance Duplicate SSH Host Key (high 7.7)
- [CVE-2021-3844](https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2021-3844/): Rapid7 InsightVM Insufficient Session Expiration (medium 5.7)
- [CVE-2024-6504](https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2024-6504/): Rapid7 InsightVM Protection Mechanism Failure (medium 4.3)
- [CVE-2023-0681](https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2023-0681/): Rapid7 Nexpose Uncontrolled URL Redirect (medium 4.3)
- [CVE-2024-2745](https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2024-2745/): Rapid7 InsightVM Sensitive Information Exposure via URL (low 3.3)

## Fix prompt for AI coding agents

```text
Check this codebase for CVE-2022-4261 and fix it if it is affected.

What it is: CVE-2022-4261 is a medium-severity vulnerability in Rapid7 InsightVM, published on 7 Dec 2022. It can only be exploited from the same machine or local network, and only if a user opens a file or follows a link.
Exploitation: There is no known exploitation of CVE-2022-4261 in the wild and no public exploit code.

Affected product: Rapid7 InsightVM. 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-2022-4261/ (Markdown: https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2022-4261/index.md)
```

## Sources

- CVE record: https://www.cve.org/CVERecord?id=CVE-2022-4261
- NVD: https://nvd.nist.gov/vuln/detail/CVE-2022-4261
- OSV: https://osv.dev/vulnerability/CVE-2022-4261

---
From sbomify Insights: https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2022-4261/
Summaries are generated and may contain mistakes; the official description above is the record.