IRONSMITHINTEL
MEDIUMCVSS6.1
|
Actively Exploited
|CISA KEV|CVE-2022-39197|Auth: none — unauthenticated|Reboot: required|Manual only

Fortra Cobalt Strike Teamserver Cross-Site Scripting (XSS) Vulnerability

Fortra Cobalt Strike contains a cross-site scripting (XSS) vulnerability in Teamserver that would allow an attacker to set a malformed username in the Beacon configuration, allowing them to execute code remotely.

Published Sep 22, 2022 · Updated May 16, 2026
Why patchRisk explained in plain English
Worst-case scenarioIf unpatched

A remote attacker, without authentication, can achieve partial data exposure, partial data tampering. Federal agencies are required to remediate by 2023-04-20 under CISA BOD 22-01.

How the attack worksNo clicks needed

This is a Cross-Site Scripting (XSS) (CWE-79) vulnerability in Fortra Cobalt Strike. An XSS (Cross Site Scripting) vulnerability was found in HelpSystems Cobalt Strike through 4.7 that allowed a remote attacker to execute HTML on the Cobalt Strike teamserver. To exploit the vulnerability, one must first inspect a Cobalt Strike payload, and then modify the username field in the payload (or create a new payload with the extracted information and then modify that username field to be malformed). Exploitation requires remote network access, low attack complexity, no authentication required, and user interaction required.

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Phishing link

🖼

Malicious file

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Server compromised

Am I affected?Quick check

Probably yes if any of these apply:

IT Security
Running cobalt strike: v < 4.7.1
Real-world incidentsWhat we've seen

CISA added this CVE to the Known Exploited Vulnerabilities catalog on 2023-03-30 based on evidence of active exploitation in the wild. Federal agencies required to remediate by 2023-04-20.

How to patch

Manual remediation steps

Apply the Vendor Patch

This vulnerability is in the CISA Known Exploited Vulnerabilities catalog — apply the vendor's security update as soon as possible.

CISA required action: Apply updates per vendor instructions.

References

    1
    Vendor advisory: https://www.cobaltstrike.com/blog/out-of-band-update-cobalt-strike-4-7-1/
    1
    NVD entry: https://nvd.nist.gov/vuln/detail/CVE-2022-39197
    1
    CISA KEV: https://www.cisa.gov/known-exploited-vulnerabilities-catalog?field_cve=CVE-2022-39197
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