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TI-2022-20289 Aliases CVE-2022-41948

Privilege Chaining with the user admin role in dhis2-core

Priority LOW 35CWE-269Published · Updated

Key facts

Attack vector
Network
Privileges required
High
User interaction
None
Attack complexity
Low
Impact type
Privilege escalation
Confidentiality · integrity · availability
High · High · High
Fix status
Fixed

Attack profile from CVSS 3.1 · NVD. Fix status from CNA. Impact type from CWE-269.

Summary

DHIS 2 is an open source information system for data capture, management, validation, analytics and visualization. Affected versions are subject to a privilege escalation vulnerability. A DHIS2 user with authority to manage users can assign superuser privileges to themself by manually crafting an HTTP PUT request. Only users with the following DHIS2 user role authorities can exploit this vulnerability. Note that in many systems the only users with user admin privileges are also superusers. In these cases, the escalation vulnerability does not exist. The vulnerability is only exploitable by attackers who can authenticate as users with the user admin authority. As this is usually a small and relatively trusted set of users, exploit vectors will often be limited. DHIS2 administrators should upgrade to the following hotfix releases: 2.36.12.1, 2.37.8.1, 2.38.2.1, 2.39.0.1. The only known workaround to this issue is to avoid the assignment of the user management authority to any users until the patch has been applied.

Why it matters now

Exploitation None reported CISA SSVC · not in CISA KEV
EPSS 0.0064 50th percentileScored 2026-11-07
Fix Fixed dhis2-core (dhis2): 2.36.12.1, 2.37.8.1, 2.38.2.1 +1

SSVC decision points

CISA ADP · SSVC 2.0.3

Exploitation
None
Automatable
No
Technical impact
Total

The decision (Track, Attend, Act) also depends on your mission and well-being impact; see CISA's SSVC guide.

Affected products

VendorProductAffected versionsFixed inStatusSource
dhis2dhis2-corebefore 2.36.12.1; 2.37.0.0 to before 2.37.8.1; 2.38.0.0 to before 2.38.2.1; 2.39.0.0 to before 2.39.0.12.36.12.1, 2.37.8.1, 2.38.2.1, 2.39.0.1Patch availableCNA
  • dhis2-core Vendordhis2 Affected before 2.36.12.1; 2.37.0.0 to before 2.37.8.1; 2.38.0.0 to before 2.38.2.1; 2.39.0.0 to before 2.39.0.1 Fixed in 2.36.12.1, 2.37.8.1, 2.38.2.1, 2.39.0.1 Patch available CNA

CPE configurations NVD · 2

CPEVersionsRoleVendor
cpe:2.3:a:dhis2:dhis_2:*:*:*:*:*:*:*:*2.34.0 to before 2.36.12.1; 2.37.0 to before 2.37.8.1; 2.38.0 to before 2.38.2.1Vulnerabledhis2
cpe:2.3:a:dhis2:dhis_2:2.39.0:*:*:*:*:*:*:*2.39.0Vulnerabledhis2
  • cpe:2.3:a:dhis2:dhis_2:*:*:*:*:*:*:*:* Versions 2.34.0 to before 2.36.12.1; 2.37.0 to before 2.37.8.1; 2.38.0 to before 2.38.2.1 Vulnerable ·dhis2
  • cpe:2.3:a:dhis2:dhis_2:2.39.0:*:*:*:*:*:*:* Versions 2.39.0 Vulnerable ·dhis2

Remediation

  • Fix · CNA dhis2-core (dhis2) Fixed in 2.36.12.1, 2.37.8.1, 2.38.2.1, 2.39.0.1

Timeline

  1. 2026-10-02 Threatist record created from CVE-2022-41948
  2. 2026-10-23 EPSS moved to the 50th–90th percentile

References

Advisory 1

  • TI-2022-08660 SQL Injection in DHIS2's in OrgUnit program association CVSS 3.1HIGH 8.8
  • TI-2021-16565 SQL Injection in DHIS2 Tracker API CVSS 3.1HIGH 8.8
  • TI-2021-18026 SQL Injection in DHIS2 Tracker API CVSS 3.1HIGH 8.8
  • TI-2021-12372 Improper Neutralization of Special Elements used in an SQL Command ('SQL Injection') in dhis2-core CVSS 3.1HIGH 8.8
  • TI-2023-14849 DHIS2 Core unrestricted session cookies with Personal Access Tokens CVSS 3.1HIGH 7.5
  • TI-2023-14848 DHIS2 Core vulnerable to Improper Access Control with PATCH requests CVSS 3.1HIGH 7.1
See all 9 →

Sources

This product uses the NVD API but is not endorsed or certified by the NVD. Sources and licences