# CVE-2022-44544: Command injection in n/a

> Attackers can execute remote shell commands via PDF export if Ghostscript lacks the -dSAFER flag on Ubuntu systems.

- **Severity:** Critical 9.8 (`CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:L/PR:N/UI:N/S:U/C:H/I:H/A:H`)
- **Exploited in the wild:** Not known
- **Login needed:** Not needed
- **Attackable:** Over the internet
- **Victim action needed:** Not needed
- **Fix available:** No
- **Published:** 6 Nov 2022
- **Updated:** 2 May 2025
- **Also known as:** GHSA-69v3-ccqq-ggg3

## What is CVE-2022-44544?

CVE-2022-44544 is a critical command injection vulnerability in Mahara Mahara, published on 6 Nov 2022. An attacker can exploit it over the internet without logging in, with no action from the victim.

### Official description

Mahara 21.04 before 21.04.7, 21.10 before 21.10.5, 22.04 before 22.04.3, and 22.10 before 22.10.0 potentially allow a PDF export to trigger a remote shell if the site is running on Ubuntu and the flag -dSAFER is not set with Ghostscript.

Weakness: CWE-250 (Execution with Unnecessary Privileges)

## Which versions are affected by CVE-2022-44544?

It affects 1 product.


Products: Mahara Mahara.

## How do I fix CVE-2022-44544?

No fix has been published for CVE-2022-44544 yet. Limit exposure of the affected software until one is available.

## Is CVE-2022-44544 being exploited?

There is no known exploitation of CVE-2022-44544 in the wild and no public exploit code.

## Other vulnerabilities in Mahara Mahara

- [CVE-2022-45134](https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2022-45134/): Deserialization in n/a (critical 9.8)
- [CVE-2021-40849](https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2021-40849/): Auth bypass in n/a (critical 9.8)
- [CVE-2017-1000152](https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2017-1000152/): Auth bypass in n/a (critical 9.8)
- [CVE-2017-1000153](https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2017-1000153/): Auth bypass in n/a (critical 9.8)
- [CVE-2017-1000154](https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2017-1000154/): Auth bypass in n/a (critical 9.8)

## Fix prompt for AI coding agents

```text
Check this codebase for CVE-2022-44544 and fix it if it is affected.

What it is: CVE-2022-44544 is a critical command injection vulnerability in Mahara Mahara, published on 6 Nov 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-2022-44544 in the wild and no public exploit code.

Affected product: Mahara Mahara. 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-2022-44544/ (Markdown: https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2022-44544/index.md)
```

## Sources

- CVE record: https://www.cve.org/CVERecord?id=CVE-2022-44544
- NVD: https://nvd.nist.gov/vuln/detail/CVE-2022-44544
- OSV: https://osv.dev/vulnerability/CVE-2022-44544

---
From sbomify Insights: https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2022-44544/
Summaries are generated and may contain mistakes; the official description above is the record.