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ElectrumApplication

CVE-2022-31246

MEDIUM · 5.5 CVSS v3.1 Published 2022-06-17
Fix available
A fix is available. Upgrade to 4.2.2 or later.
See remediation →
58/100
Remediation priority · Elevated
No privileges

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 · unedited
paymentrequest.py in Electrum before 4.2.2 allows a file:// URL in the r parameter of a payment request (e.g., within QR code data). On Windows, this can lead to capture of credentials over SMB. On Linux and UNIX, it can lead to a denial of service by specifying the /dev/zero filename.

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 confidence

Electrum wallet before 4.2.2 fails to validate the 'r' parameter in payment requests, allowing file:// URLs to be processed. Attackers can embed malicious file:// URLs in QR code payment request data. On Windows, this enables SMB credential capture via crafted UNC paths. On Linux/UNIX systems, specifying /dev/zero causes denial of service by exhausting resources.

MitigationUpgrade to Electrum 4.2.2 or later, which implements proper validation of payment request URLs to reject file:// schemes. As a temporary workaround, avoid scanning QR codes from untrusted sources.

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
ElectrumApplication
Affected:< 4.2.2

CVSS 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
None
User interaction
Required
Scope
Unchanged
Confidentiality
High
Integrity
None
Availability
None

CVSS:3.1/AV:L/AC:L/PR:N/UI:R/S:U/C:H/I:N/A:N

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 checks

Work through these to decide whether this CVE applies to you.

  1. Check installed Electrum version
    Run 'electrum --version' in terminal, or open Electrum and go to Help > About to view the version number
    Affected if Version is earlier than 4.2.2 (e.g., 4.2.1, 4.2.0, or earlier)
  2. Identify if payment request scanning is used
    Open Electrum and check the Receive tab - verify if the wallet displays a QR code for payment requests or if you import QR codes from external sources
    Affected if The wallet is used to scan or import QR code payment requests from any source
  3. Confirm payment request 'r' parameter processing
    The vulnerability is triggered when a payment request contains an 'r' parameter pointing to a URL - this is part of the BIP70 payment request standard. No special configuration needed as this is a default behavior in Electrum.
    Affected if The Electrum version is vulnerable AND payment requests with 'r' parameters can be processed (default wallet behavior)
  4. Test for file:// URL acceptance (if version is unknown)
    Create a test payment request with a file:// URL in the 'r' parameter and attempt to load it in Electrum - if the application attempts to fetch the file, the vulnerability is present
    Affected if Electrum processes or attempts to process file:// URLs from payment request 'r' parameters

You are affected if your Electrum version is earlier than 4.2.2 and you process payment requests containing the 'r' parameter, particularly from QR codes or imported payment request files.

Generated from the published advisory. Verify against your own configuration.

Check your environment

Paste your version and any relevant configuration and it will be compared against the affected criteria above. Do not include secrets or credentials.

AI-assisted, checked against the advisory. Informational, not a guarantee.

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.

dbcve · scoped
Upgrade available Upgrade to 4.2.2 or later
Fixed in 4.2.2
Interim mitigation

Upgrade to Electrum 4.2.2 or later, which implements proper validation of payment request URLs to reject file:// schemes. As a temporary workaround, avoid scanning QR codes from untrusted sources.

Recommended fix High confidence

Electrum 4.2.2

  1. Open Electrum and go to Tools > Preferences (or the equivalent in your version) to check your current version
  2. Back up your Electrum wallet by going to Wallet > Backup and saving the seed phrase and any wallet files to a secure location
  3. Download Electrum version 4.2.2 or later from the official Electrum website (electrum.org)
  4. Verify the downloaded file's checksum matches the published checksum on the website
  5. Install the new version by running the downloaded installer
  6. Restore your wallet using your seed phrase or backup file after installation

Generated from the published advisory — verify against the referenced sources before acting.

Fix this in Electrum Scoped from the published advisory
  • Consultation1.0 h
  • Implementation2.0 h
  • Testing2.0 h
  • Review / QA1.0 h
6.0 hours of engineering $1,040
Get the upgrade done

An estimate, not a bill — we confirm scope with you before any work starts. Need it this week? Rush from $1,664.

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References Go to the primary sourcePrimary sources — vendor advisories, patches and trackers. Where our summary and a reference disagree, the reference wins.

Primary sources

Practitioner notes

Contributed

Peer-ranked notes from engineers who’ve handled CVE-2022-31246 in production — separate from our analysis above.

No notes yet

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What this is

A place for practitioners to share what actually worked: a mitigation you’ve tested, a configuration change, a version- or environment-specific caveat, or a link to a verified patch. The most useful notes rise to the top as peers upvote them, so the signal stays high.

What belongs here
  • 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
  • No spam, self-promotion, credentials, or personal data