CVE-2022-4515 Command injection in Exuberant Ctags

What is CVE-2022-4515?

CVE-2022-4515 is a high-severity command injection vulnerability in Debian Debian Linux, published on 20 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

A flaw was found in Exuberant Ctags in the way it handles the "-o" option. This option specifies the tag filename. A crafted tag filename specified in the command line or in the configuration file results in arbitrary command execution because the externalSortTags() in sort.c calls the system(3) function in an unsafe way.

Weakness: CWE-78

Which versions are affected by CVE-2022-4515?

It affects 2 products.

Products include Debian Debian Linux, Exuberant Ctags Project Exuberant Ctags.

How do I fix CVE-2022-4515?

Apply the vendor's patch.

Upgrade, and pass arguments to programs as a list instead of through a shell. More about Command injection.

Is CVE-2022-4515 being exploited?

There is no known exploitation of CVE-2022-4515 in the wild and no public exploit code.

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• CVE-2026-24061 GNU InetUtils Argument Injection Exploited Critical 9.8
• CVE-2025-39682 Linux Kernel Improper Check for Unusual or Exceptional Conditions Exploited Critical 9.8
• CVE-2024-9680 Mozilla Firefox Use-After-Free Exploited Critical 9.8

All Debian Debian Linux vulnerabilities

Sources

• CVE record
• NVD
• OSV
• GitHub advisory
• How this page is made

Also known as ALSA-2023:2863, AZL-12083, AZL-34647, DEBIAN-CVE-2022-4515, DLA-3254-1, GHSA-qr9x-29jh-mg6x and 10 more.