CVE-2022-35978

HIGH

Minetest < 5.6.0 - Unauthenticated Protection Mechanism Failure via Global Setting

Title source: llm
STIX 2.1

Exploitation Summary

EIP tracks 1 public exploit for CVE-2022-35978. PoCs published by CanVo.

AI-analyzed exploit summary This repository contains a functional proof-of-concept exploit for CVE-2022-35978, which leverages an unsandboxed Lua environment in Minetest to execute arbitrary commands when the game exits to the main menu. The exploit demonstrates privilege escalation by creating a backdoor user with administrative privileges on Windows.

Description

Minetest is a free open-source voxel game engine with easy modding and game creation. In **single player**, a mod can set a global setting that controls the Lua script loaded to display the main menu. The script is then loaded as soon as the game session is exited. The Lua environment the menu runs in is not sandboxed and can directly interfere with the user's system. There are currently no known workarounds.

Exploits (1)

nomisec WORKING POC
by CanVo · poc
https://github.com/CanVo/CVE-2022-35978-POC

This repository contains a functional proof-of-concept exploit for CVE-2022-35978, which leverages an unsandboxed Lua environment in Minetest to execute arbitrary commands when the game exits to the main menu. The exploit demonstrates privilege escalation by creating a backdoor user with administrative privileges on Windows.

Classification
Working Poc 100%
Attack Type
Rce
Complexity
Trivial
Reliability
Reliable
Target: Minetest versions up to and including 5.5.1
No auth needed
Prerequisites: Minetest installed on Windows · Game run as Administrator for full impact
devstral-2 · analyzed Feb 18, 2026 Full analysis →

References (3)

Core 3

Scores

CVSS v3 7.7
EPSS 0.0220
EPSS Percentile 80.2%
Attack Vector NETWORK
CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:H/PR:L/UI:N/S:C/C:L/I:H/A:L

CISA SSVC

Vulnrichment
Exploitation none
Automatable no
Technical Impact partial

Details

CWE
CWE-693
Status published
Products (1)
minetest/minetest < 5.6.0
Published Aug 15, 2022
Tracked Since Feb 18, 2026