Cargo extracting malicious crates can corrupt arbitrary files

Exploitation

No confirmed exploitation recorded. Patch Next marks exploitation only from CISA KEV.

CVSS

3.9 · CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:H/PR:H/UI:R/S:U/C:L/I:L/A:L

EPSS

• CVE-2022-36113: 1.21% estimated exploitation activity in the next 30 days; percentile 68.38 (FIRST EPSS, 2026-11-03). This is a model estimate, not proof of exploitation or customer exposure.

As published by the source; long descriptions are shortened.

The Rust Security Response WG was notified that Cargo did not prevent extracting some malformed packages downloaded from alternate registries. An attacker able to upload packages to an alternate registry could corrupt arbitary files when Cargo downloaded the package. The severity of this vulnerability is "low" for users of alternate registries. Users relying on crates.io are not affected. Note that by design Cargo allows code execution at build time, due to build scripts and procedural macros. The vulnerabilities in this advisory allow performing a subset of the possible damage in a harder to track down way. Your dependencies must still be trusted if you want to be protected from attacks, as it's possible to perform the same attacks with build scripts and procedural macros. Arbitrary file corruption After a package is downloaded, Cargo extracts its source code in the ~/.cargo folder on disk, making it available to the Rust projects it builds. To record when an extraction is…

Published by the source

16 Sep 2022, 17:12 UTC

Last modified by the source

14 Aug 2023, 16:16 UTC

Source last checked

26 Oct 2026, 15:37 UTC

1. Revision 1 · created · 26 Oct 2026

   Published from ghsa record GHSA-rfj2-q3h3-hm5j

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# Patch Next advisory brief: CVE-2022-36113

Advisory: Cargo extracting malicious crates can corrupt arbitrary files
IDs: CVE-2022-36113, GHSA-rfj2-q3h3-hm5j
Record: https://patchnext.com/advisories/cve-2022-36113 (revision 1, source checked 26 Oct 2026, 15:37 UTC)
Inventory: none attached. This brief comes from a public page and does not say whether any deployment is affected.
Severity: Low (CVSS 3.9)
Exploitation: no confirmed exploitation recorded. Patch Next confirms exploitation only from CISA KEV.
Vendor response: Vendor fix available; fixed versions by package: cargo 0.67.0, 0.65.0. A vendor fix does not mean a deployment is fixed.

## Affected components
- crates.io cargo: affected < 0.65.0; >= 0.66.0, <= 0.66.0; fixed in 0.65.0, 0.67.0

## Suggested inspection (read-only)
- crates.io cargo: check the installed version with your package manager.

## Supported action
Upgrade each affected component to a fixed version on its release line. For a transitive dependency, upgrade the parent package or add an override or constraint, then regenerate the lockfile. Redeploy every environment that ran an affected version.

## Required regression checks
- Run the test suite and a production build.
- Exercise the features that depend on cargo.
- Repeat the inspection and confirm that only fixed versions remain installed.

## Rollback considerations
- Keep the previous lockfile and deployment artifact. Rolling back reinstates the vulnerable version, so apply any documented mitigation while you fix forward.

## Unresolved questions
- Which deployments run an affected version?
- Exploitation status can change. Check again before lowering the priority.
- Mark the work resolved only after the fixed version is verified in production.

## Sources
- Verified: https://github.com/advisories/GHSA-rfj2-q3h3-hm5j (GitHub-reviewed advisory GHSA-rfj2-q3h3-hm5j lists affected ranges: crates.io cargo >=0 =0.66.0 <=0.66.0)

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