# CVE-2022-45003: Gophish vulnerable to Denial of Service via crafted payload involving autofocus

> Attackers can cause a Denial of Service in Gophish by sending a crafted payload involving autofocus, disrupting service availability.

- **Severity:** High 7.5 (`CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:L/PR:N/UI:N/S:U/C:N/I:N/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:** 22 Mar 2023
- **Updated:** 25 Feb 2025
- **Also known as:** GHSA-8gg8-wr4j-v2wr

## What is CVE-2022-45003?

CVE-2022-45003 is a high-severity denial of service vulnerability in n/a, published on 22 Mar 2023. An attacker can exploit it over the internet without logging in, with no action from the victim.

### Official description

Gophish through 0.12.1 allows attackers to cause a Denial of Service (DoS) via a crafted payload involving autofocus.

Weakness: CWE-400 (Uncontrolled Resource Consumption)

## Which versions are affected by CVE-2022-45003?

2 open source packages ship an affected version, including github.com/gophish/gophish. It affects 1 product.


| Package | Ecosystem | Affected | Fixed in |
| --- | --- | --- | --- |
| `github.com/gophish/gophish` | Go | All versions to 0.12.1 | None |
| `github.com/gophish/gophish` | Go | All versions to 0.12.1 | None |

Products: Getgophish Gophish.

## How do I fix CVE-2022-45003?

No fix has been published for CVE-2022-45003 yet. Limit exposure of the affected software until one is available.

## Is CVE-2022-45003 being exploited?

It is not confirmed as exploited in the wild, but public exploit code for CVE-2022-45003 exists.

Public exploit code:

- https://github.com/mha98/CVE-2022-45003 (github_poc): https://github.com/mha98/CVE-2022-45003

## Other vulnerabilities in n/a

- [CVE-2020-24707](https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2020-24707/): Other in n/a (high 7.8)
- [CVE-2025-70963](https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2025-70963/): Gophish is vulnerable to Incorrect Access Control (high 7.6)
- [CVE-2020-24713](https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2020-24713/): Security feature bypass in n/a (high 7.5)
- [CVE-2020-24711](https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2020-24711/): Cross-site request forgery in n/a (medium 6.5)
- [CVE-2022-45004](https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2022-45004/): Gophish vulnerable to Cross-site Scripting via crafted landing page (medium 6.1)

## Fix prompt for AI coding agents

```text
Check this codebase for CVE-2022-45003 and fix it if it is affected.

What it is: CVE-2022-45003 is a high-severity denial of service vulnerability in n/a, published on 22 Mar 2023. An attacker can exploit it over the internet without logging in, with no action from the victim.
Exploitation: It is not confirmed as exploited in the wild, but public exploit code for CVE-2022-45003 exists.

Affected packages and fixed versions:
- github.com/gophish/gophish (Go): affected all versions up to 0.12.1; no fix listed
- github.com/gophish/gophish (Go): affected all versions up to 0.12.1; no fix listed

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-2022-45003/ (Markdown: https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2022-45003/index.md)
```

## Sources

- CVE record: https://www.cve.org/CVERecord?id=CVE-2022-45003
- NVD: https://nvd.nist.gov/vuln/detail/CVE-2022-45003
- OSV: https://osv.dev/vulnerability/CVE-2022-45003

---
From sbomify Insights: https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2022-45003/
Summaries are generated and may contain mistakes; the official description above is the record.