CVE-2022-48431
📋 TL;DR
This vulnerability in JetBrains IntelliJ IDEA allows Gradle and Maven projects to be imported without requiring the 'Trust Project' confirmation dialog. This affects users of IntelliJ IDEA versions before 2023.1 who import projects from untrusted sources.
💻 Affected Systems
- JetBrains IntelliJ IDEA
📦 What is this software?
Intellij Idea by Jetbrains
⚠️ Risk & Real-World Impact
Worst Case
An attacker could trick a developer into importing a malicious project that executes arbitrary code with the developer's privileges, potentially leading to system compromise or data theft.
Likely Case
Developers might unintentionally import projects from untrusted sources without proper security warnings, potentially executing malicious build scripts or dependencies.
If Mitigated
With proper security awareness training and verification of project sources, the risk is limited to accidental imports from known-trusted sources.
🎯 Exploit Status
Exploitation requires social engineering to convince a developer to import a malicious project. No technical bypass of authentication is involved.
🛠️ Fix & Mitigation
✅ Official Fix
Patch Version: 2023.1 or later
Vendor Advisory: https://www.jetbrains.com/privacy-security/issues-fixed/
Restart Required: Yes
Instructions:
1. Open IntelliJ IDEA. 2. Go to Help > Check for Updates. 3. Install version 2023.1 or later. 4. Restart IntelliJ IDEA when prompted.
🔧 Temporary Workarounds
Manual Trust Project Verification
allAlways manually verify project source and contents before importing, regardless of whether trust dialog appears.
Disable Auto-Import
allConfigure IntelliJ IDEA to not automatically import projects when opening directories.
Configure in Settings > Build, Execution, Deployment > Build Tools > Gradle/Maven
🧯 If You Can't Patch
- Only import projects from trusted, verified sources and repositories
- Review project build files (build.gradle, pom.xml) and dependencies before importing
🔍 How to Verify
Check if Vulnerable:
Check IntelliJ IDEA version in Help > About. If version is below 2023.1, you are vulnerable.Check Version:
On Linux/macOS: 'idea --version' or check Help > About in the IDEVerify Fix Applied:
After updating, attempt to import a test Gradle/Maven project. The 'Trust Project' dialog should appear.📡 Detection & Monitoring
Log Indicators:
- Project import events without trust confirmation in IDE logs
- Unexpected project imports from unusual sources
Network Indicators:
- Downloads of project dependencies from untrusted repositories during import
SIEM Query:
Search for process execution of IntelliJ IDEA with project import arguments from unusual directories