CVE-2022-22528
Official description Straight from the sourceThe vendor's or NVD's own wording, published unedited. Authoritative, but often terse — it says what broke, rarely what to do.
NVD · uneditedSAP Adaptive Server Enterprise (ASE) - version 16.0, installation makes an entry in the system PATH environment variable in Windows platform which, under certain conditions, allows a Standard User to execute malicious Windows binaries which may lead to privilege escalation on the local system. The issue is with the ASE installer and does not impact other ASE binaries.
Technical summary Written by usOur analysis, written from the advisory, the CVSS vector and the affected-version data. It adds context the advisory leaves out, and never invents facts that are not in the source.
dbcve analysis · high confidenceSAP ASE 16.0 installer for Windows adds an entry to the system PATH environment variable. A standard user can place malicious Windows binaries in that PATH directory, which will be executed with elevated privileges when privileged processes search for executables, leading to local privilege escalation.
Verify against the referenced sources before acting — the references below are authoritative for this CVE, this summary is not.
Affected products & versions What the vendor confirmedThe version ranges the vendor confirmed as vulnerable. If your version sits inside a range here, treat yourself as exposed until you have upgraded.
NVD · CPE data= 16.0CVSS breakdown How the score is builtThe industry scoring standard. It rates how the flaw is reached, what it takes to exploit, and what an attacker gains — the score is derived from those, not the other way round.
From the vector- Attack vector
- Local
- Complexity
- Low
- Privileges
- Low
- User interaction
- None
- Scope
- Unchanged
- Confidentiality
- High
- Integrity
- High
- Availability
- High
CVSS:3.1/AV:L/AC:L/PR:L/UI:N/S:U/C:H/I:H/A:H
Am I affected? How to checkSteps we derive from the advisory and the affected-version data, so you can decide whether this CVE reaches your setup. They are a guide, not a scan — your own configuration is the authority.
dbcve checksWork through these to decide whether this CVE applies to you.
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Verify SAP ASE 16.0 is installed on WindowsCheck for the presence of SAP Adaptive Server Enterprise 16.0 by looking for its installation directory, typically under C:\sybase or C:\SAP, or check Windows Registry under HKLM\SOFTWARE\Sybase for ASE version 16.0Affected if SAP ASE 16.0 is installed on the system
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Inspect system PATH for SAP ASE entriesOpen System Properties > Environment Variables and review the System PATH variable, or run 'reg query "HKLM\SYSTEM\CurrentControlSet\Control\Session Manager\Environment" /v Path' in Command PromptAffected if The system PATH contains a directory path pointing to an SAP ASE installation folder (e.g., Sybase\ASE-16_0\bin or similar)
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Check the SAP ASE PATH directory for unauthorized binariesLocate the directory added to PATH by the ASE installer and list all executable files (.exe, .bat, .cmd, .ps1) present in that directoryAffected if The directory contains executable files that were not part of the original SAP ASE installation or appear suspicious
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Verify write permissions on the SAP ASE PATH directoryRight-click the directory in Explorer > Properties > Security tab, or run 'icacls "<directory_path>"' to check which users have Write/Execute permissionsAffected if Standard (non-privileged) users have Write or Write+Execute permissions to the directory listed in PATH
A system is affected if SAP ASE 16.0 is installed on Windows and the installer added a directory to the system PATH where standard users can write executables that may be invoked by privileged processes.
Generated from the published advisory. Verify against your own configuration.
Remediation Closing itWhat it takes to close this. Where a vendor fix exists we point at it; where none exists we say so plainly, and can build one. Effort estimates are scoped from the advisory, not from your codebase.
From vendor dataIdentify and remove the ASE installer-added PATH entry on Windows systems. Review the PATH variable for unauthorized directories and scan for any malicious binaries that may have been placed in those locations.
- Consultation2.0 h
- Implementation2.0 h
- Testing2.0 h
- Review / QA1.0 h
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Scan for this in your stack
Free · runs locallyCheck whether your project pulls in CVE-2022-22528 — or any other known-vulnerable package — straight from your lock files. Free and open source; it runs locally and uploads nothing.
References Go to the primary sourcePrimary sources — vendor advisories, patches and trackers. Where our summary and a reference disagree, the reference wins.
Primary sourcesPractitioner notes
ContributedPeer-ranked notes from engineers who’ve handled CVE-2022-22528 in production — separate from our analysis above.
The advisory tells you what broke. It rarely tells you what actually worked. If you’ve dealt with this one, that detail is what the next engineer is searching for.
- The version that genuinely resolved it — not the one the vendor claimed
- A config change or rule that shut the vector down
- A gotcha in the upgrade path that cost you an afternoon
No notes yet
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- Verified mitigations, workarounds, and config changes
- Version or environment caveats, and links to real fixes
- No weaponised exploit code, or anything meant to cause harm
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