CVE-2022-31694
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 · uneditedInstallBuilder Qt installers built with versions previous to 22.10 try to load DLLs from the installer binary parent directory when displaying popups. This may allow an attacker to plant a malicious DLL in the installer parent directory to allow executing code with the privileges of the installer (when the popup triggers the loading of the library). Exploiting these type of vulnerabilities generally require that an attacker has access to a vulnerable machine to plant the malicious DLL.
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 confidenceInstallBuilder Qt installers prior to version 22.10 are vulnerable to DLL hijacking. When displaying popups, the installer attempts to load DLLs from the parent directory of the installer binary, allowing an attacker with local access to plant a malicious DLL that will be loaded with the installer's privileges.
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< 22.10.0CVSS 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
- Required
- Scope
- Unchanged
- Confidentiality
- High
- Integrity
- High
- Availability
- High
CVSS:3.1/AV:L/AC:L/PR:L/UI:R/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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Determine the InstallBuilder version that created the installerOpen the installer binary in a hex editor or use a tool like exiftool to read the version metadata. Alternatively, check the build logs or the source system where the installer was created for the InstallBuilder version usedAffected if The installer was built with InstallBuilder version prior to 22.10.0
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Verify the InstallBuilder installation versionCheck the InstallBuilder installation directory (typically in Program Files or the application folder) for version information, or run 'installbuilder.exe --version' from the command line if availableAffected if The installed version of InstallBuilder on the build system is below 22.10.0
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Assess parent directory write accessCheck file system permissions on the parent directory of the installer binary. Use 'icacls <installer_parent_path>' on Windows or 'ls -ld <parent_directory>' on Unix-like systems to list permissionsAffected if Untrusted or local users have write permissions to the parent directory of the installer
A user is affected if they run an installer that was created with InstallBuilder versions prior to 22.10.0, and the parent directory of that installer is writable by untrusted local users who could plant a malicious DLL
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.
dbcve · scoped22.10.0
Upgrade InstallBuilder to version 22.10 or later and rebuild all affected installers, then distribute the patched installers to customers.
InstallBuilder 22.10.0
- Identify all InstallBuilder installations that are version 22.9.0 or earlier
- Obtain InstallBuilder version 22.10.0 or later from the official vendor (e.g., from blog.installbuilder.com or official channels)
- Rebuild all Qt-based installers using InstallBuilder version 22.10.0 or later
- Distribute the newly built installers to replace vulnerable versions in all distribution channels
- Verify that rebuilt installers do not load DLLs from the parent directory by testing in an environment with a clean binary directory
Generated from the published advisory — verify against the referenced sources before acting.
- Consultation4.0 h
- Implementation8.0 h
- Testing4.0 h
- Review / QA2.0 h
An estimate, not a bill — we confirm scope with you before any work starts. Need it this week? Rush from $5,120.
Scan for this in your stack
Free · runs locallyCheck whether your project pulls in CVE-2022-31694 — 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-2022-31694 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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