# CVE-2022-4721: Failure to Sanitize Special Elements into a Different Plane (Special Element Injection) in ikus060/rdiffweb

> An attacker can inject special elements into rdiffweb, potentially leading to cross-site scripting or code execution.

- **Severity:** Medium 6.6 (`CVSS:3.0/AV:L/AC:L/PR:L/UI:N/S:U/C:L/I:L/A:H`)
- **Exploited in the wild:** Not known
- **Login needed:** Any signed-in user
- **Attackable:** Local or same network only
- **Victim action needed:** Not needed
- **Fix available:** Yes
- **Published:** 23 Dec 2022
- **Updated:** 9 Apr 2025
- **Also known as:** GHSA-83pm-7v48-5jp4, PYSEC-2022-43007

## What is CVE-2022-4721?

CVE-2022-4721 is a medium-severity cross-site scripting vulnerability in ikus060/rdiffweb, published on 23 Dec 2022. It can only be exploited from the same machine or local network, with no action from the victim.

### Official description

Failure to Sanitize Special Elements into a Different Plane (Special Element Injection) in GitHub repository ikus060/rdiffweb prior to 2.5.5.

Weakness: CWE-75 (Failure to Sanitize Special Elements into a Different Plane)

## Which versions are affected by CVE-2022-4721?

3 open source packages ship an affected version, including rdiffweb. It affects 1 product.


| Package | Ecosystem | Affected | Fixed in |
| --- | --- | --- | --- |
| `rdiffweb` | PyPI | All versions | 2.5.5 |
| `rdiffweb` | PyPI | All versions | 2.5.5 |
| `rdiffweb` | PyPI | All versions | 2.5.5 |

Products: Ikus-Soft Rdiffweb.

## How do I fix CVE-2022-4721?

Upgrade rdiffweb to 2.5.5 or later.

## Is CVE-2022-4721 being exploited?

It is not confirmed as exploited in the wild, but public exploit code for CVE-2022-4721 exists.

## Other vulnerabilities in ikus060/rdiffweb

- [CVE-2022-3167](https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2022-3167/): Improper Restriction of Rendered UI Layers or Frames in ikus060/rdiffweb (critical 10.0)
- [CVE-2022-3221](https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2022-3221/): Cross-Site Request Forgery (CSRF) in ikus060/rdiffweb (high 8.8)
- [CVE-2022-4724](https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2022-4724/): Improper Access Control in ikus060/rdiffweb (high 8.4)
- [CVE-2022-3389](https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2022-3389/): Path Traversal in ikus060/rdiffweb (high 8.2)
- [CVE-2022-3371](https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2022-3371/): rdiffweb's lack of token name length limit can result in DoS or memory corruption (high 7.5)

## Fix prompt for AI coding agents

```text
Check this codebase for CVE-2022-4721 and fix it if it is affected.

What it is: CVE-2022-4721 is a medium-severity cross-site scripting vulnerability in ikus060/rdiffweb, published on 23 Dec 2022. It can only be exploited from the same machine or local network, with no action from the victim.
Exploitation: It is not confirmed as exploited in the wild, but public exploit code for CVE-2022-4721 exists.

Affected packages and fixed versions:
- rdiffweb (PyPI): affected all versions; fixed in 2.5.5
- rdiffweb (PyPI): affected all versions; fixed in 2.5.5
- rdiffweb (PyPI): affected all versions; fixed in 2.5.5

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-2022-4721/ (Markdown: https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2022-4721/index.md)
```

## Sources

- CVE record: https://www.cve.org/CVERecord?id=CVE-2022-4721
- NVD: https://nvd.nist.gov/vuln/detail/CVE-2022-4721
- OSV: https://osv.dev/vulnerability/CVE-2022-4721

---
From sbomify Insights: https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2022-4721/
Summaries are generated and may contain mistakes; the official description above is the record.