CVE-2022-39306 in Grafana
Summary
by MITRE • 11/10/2022
Grafana is an open-source platform for monitoring and observability. Versions prior to 9.2.4, or 8.5.15 on the 8.X branch, are subject to Improper Input Validation. Grafana admins can invite other members to the organization they are an admin for. When admins add members to the organization, non existing users get an email invite, existing members are added directly to the organization. When an invite link is sent, it allows users to sign up with whatever username/email address the user chooses and become a member of the organization. This introduces a vulnerability which can be used with malicious intent. This issue is patched in version 9.2.4, and has been backported to 8.5.15. There are no known workarounds.
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Analysis
by VulDB Data Team • 06/08/2025
The vulnerability described in CVE-2022-39306 represents a critical improper input validation flaw within the Grafana monitoring platform that affects versions prior to 9.2.4 and 8.5.15. This security weakness specifically impacts the user invitation and registration mechanism within Grafana's organizational management system, creating a pathway for unauthorized privilege escalation and potential account takeover attacks. The vulnerability stems from the platform's handling of email invitations sent to users who are being added to organizations, where the system fails to properly validate or restrict the username and email address that invited users can select during the registration process.
The technical implementation of this vulnerability occurs within Grafana's user management and invitation system, where administrators can invite other users to join their organization. When an invitation is sent, the system generates a link that allows the recipient to register with any username and email address they choose, regardless of whether they are the intended recipient of the invitation. This design flaw enables malicious actors to exploit the system by creating accounts under false identities, potentially gaining unauthorized access to sensitive monitoring data and organization resources. The vulnerability is classified as CWE-20 Improper Input Validation, which is a fundamental security weakness that allows attackers to manipulate input data to perform unintended actions or access unauthorized resources.
The operational impact of this vulnerability extends beyond simple privilege escalation, as it enables attackers to potentially compromise entire organizations by creating accounts with elevated privileges or by gaining access to sensitive monitoring data that organizations rely upon for security operations. The attack surface is particularly concerning because Grafana is widely used for monitoring critical infrastructure, making this vulnerability attractive to threat actors seeking to gain access to sensitive operational data. This weakness directly relates to ATT&CK technique T1078 Valid Accounts, where adversaries establish persistence through legitimate credentials, and T1566 Impersonation, where attackers assume the identity of legitimate users to access restricted resources.
Organizations using affected versions of Grafana face significant risk of unauthorized access and potential data breaches, as attackers can exploit this vulnerability to create accounts that bypass normal authentication mechanisms and gain membership in targeted organizations. The vulnerability particularly affects Grafana administrators who may inadvertently send invitations to compromised email addresses or who are unaware of the potential for account impersonation. The patched versions of Grafana 9.2.4 and 8.5.15 implement proper input validation that restricts the registration process to prevent users from selecting arbitrary usernames and email addresses when using invitation links, thereby eliminating the attack vector. Organizations should immediately upgrade to the patched versions and review existing organization memberships to identify any unauthorized accounts that may have been created through this vulnerability, as no known workarounds exist to address this issue without applying the official security patches.