CVE-2022-23516: Loofah is a general library for manipulating and transforming HTML/XML documents and fragments, built on top o

Q: How urgent is CVE-2022-23516?

Priority 48/100. High severity; Remotely exploitable, no login, no user action

This month

HIGH 7.5REMOTEUPGRADE

CVE-2022-23516 is a high-severity flaw (CVSS 7.5) affecting loofah. Below: why it ranks where it does, which versions are affected, what to do, and the exact commands.

Loofah is a general library for manipulating and transforming HTML/XML documents and fragments, built on top of Nokogiri. Loofah >= 2.2.0, < 2.19.1 uses recursion for sanitizing CDATA sections, making it susceptible to stack exhaustion and raising a SystemStackError exception. This may lead to a denial of service through CPU resource consumption. This issue is patched in version 2.19.1. Users who are unable to upgrade may be able to mitigate thi

Why this priority

High severity
Remotely exploitable, no login, no user action

A fixed release or distro patch exists.

Risk facts

CVSS score	7.5 (High)
Attack vector	Network (remote)
Attack complexity	Low
Privileges needed	None
User interaction	None
EPSS exploit chance	1.2% (top 33%)
CISA exploited list	No
Weakness	CWE-674
Published	2022-12-14
Last modified	2026-06-17

Publisher (CNA): GitHub, Inc. · Vendor: loofah project

Last updated 2026-06-17 · Sources: CVE Program, NVD, CISA KEV, EPSS and vendor advisories · How we score

Am I affected?

Timeline

2022-12-14 14:15 UTCPublished CVE record published
2026-06-17 04:30 UTCUpdated Record last modified

loofah project loofah UPGRADE

Affected: >= 2.2.0 and < 2.19.1

Fixed in: 2.19.1

Safe to downgrade to: a release before 2.2.0

1. Check installed version

apt-cache policy loofah || rpm -q loofah || loofah --version

2. UPGRADE to 2.19.1 (Debian / Ubuntu)

sudo apt update && sudo apt install --only-upgrade loofah

2. UPGRADE (RHEL / Amazon Linux / Fedora)

sudo dnf upgrade loofah

Note

Distros often backport fixes without changing the version number. Confirm with the distro advisory or changelog.

3. If no update is available yet, DOWNGRADE to a release before 2.2.0 (Debian / Ubuntu)

apt-cache madison loofah sudo apt install loofah=<VERSION_BEFORE_2.2.0> sudo apt-mark hold loofah

3. If no update is available yet, DOWNGRADE (RHEL / Amazon Linux / Fedora)

dnf --showduplicates list loofah sudo dnf downgrade loofah-<VERSION_BEFORE_2.2.0> sudo dnf versionlock add loofah

Downgrade risk

Downgrading can break dependent software and may reopen older bugs. Read the distro advisory first and test on a non-production host.

After downgrade

Restart the service, and keep the package held until a fixed release ships.

Verify at the official source NVD · CVE Program · Report a problem with this page
Scores and fixes here are computed automatically from those and other public sources. Confirm with the vendor advisory before changing production systems.

Quick answers

How do I fix CVE-2022-23516?

loofah: upgrade to 2.19.1. Exact commands for each OS are on this page.

Is CVE-2022-23516 being exploited?

CVE-2022-23516 is not on the CISA Known Exploited Vulnerabilities list at the time of the last update. Check again, as this can change.

What does CVE-2022-23516 affect?

CVE-2022-23516 affects loofah. Severity is high (CVSS 7.5). Loofah is a general library for manipulating and transforming HTML/XML documents and fragments, built on top of Nokogiri. Loofah >= 2.2.0, < 2.19.1 uses recursion for sanitizing CDATA sections, making it susceptible to stack exhaustion and

How urgent is CVE-2022-23516?

Priority 48/100. High severity; Remotely exploitable, no login, no user action

Related CVEs

CVE-2022-23518 MEDIUM 6.1 UPGRADE MITIGATE rails-html-sanitizer is responsible for sanitizing HTML fragments in Rails applications
CVE-2022-23515 MEDIUM 6.1 UPGRADE MITIGATE Loofah is a general library for manipulating and transforming HTML/XML documents and fragments, built on top o
CVE-2022-23514 HIGH 7.5 UPGRADE Loofah is a general library for manipulating and transforming HTML/XML documents and fragments, built on top o

References

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