CVE-2022-32291
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 · uneditedIn Real Player through 20.1.0.312, attackers can execute arbitrary code by placing a UNC share pathname (for a DLL file) in a RAM file.
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 · moderate confidenceThis is a DLL hijacking vulnerability in Real Player where the application loads a malicious DLL when processing a RAM file containing a UNC path pointing to a network share. An attacker can achieve arbitrary code execution by tricking users into opening a crafted file that references a remote DLL location.
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<= 20.1.0.312CVSS 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
- Network
- Complexity
- Low
- Privileges
- None
- User interaction
- Required
- Scope
- Unchanged
- Confidentiality
- High
- Integrity
- High
- Availability
- High
CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:L/PR:N/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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Check if RealPlayer is installedLook for RealPlayer installation directory in common locations such as C:\Program Files\RealPlayer or C:\Program Files (x86)\RealPlayer, or check the Windows registry under HKLM\SOFTWARE\RealNetworks for installation entriesAffected if RealPlayer is found on the system
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Determine installed RealPlayer versionCheck the version of realsched.exe or the main RealPlayer executable in the installation folder by right-clicking the file, selecting Properties, and viewing the Details tab. Alternatively, open RealPlayer and navigate to Help > About RealPlayerAffected if The displayed version number is 20.1.0.312 or lower
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Compare version to affected rangeNote the exact version number found in the previous step and compare it against the affected version range: any version <= 20.1.0.312 is vulnerableAffected if The installed version is 20.1.0.312 or any earlier version number
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Check for RAM file associationVerify that .ram files are associated with RealPlayer by opening Default Programs in Windows Control Panel, or by checking the registry under HKCR\.ram to confirm the file type handler points to RealPlayerAffected if RAM files are configured to open with RealPlayer, enabling the vulnerable code path
A user is affected if RealPlayer version 20.1.0.312 or lower is installed and configured to handle RAM files, allowing the application to load DLLs from UNC paths referenced in crafted RAM files.
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 dataUsers should not open untrusted or suspicious media files, and organizations should restrict network access to untrusted SMB shares. The vendor should release a patch that validates DLL loading paths and prevents loading executables from UNC paths.
- Consultation2.0 h
- Implementation8.0 h
- Testing4.0 h
- Review / QA2.0 h
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Scan for this in your stack
Free · runs locallyCheck whether your project pulls in CVE-2022-32291 — 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-2022-32291 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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