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PhotoshopApplication · Adobe

CVE-2022-38429

HIGH · 7.8 CVSS v3.1 Published 2022-09-16
Fix available
A fix is available. Upgrade to after 23.4.2 or later.
See remediation →
81/100
Remediation priority · High
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
Adobe Photoshop versions 22.5.8 (and earlier) and 23.4.2 (and earlier) are affected by an out-of-bounds read vulnerability when parsing a crafted file, which could result in a read past the end of an allocated memory structure. An attacker could leverage this vulnerability to execute code in the context of the current user. Exploitation of this issue requires user interaction in that a victim must open a malicious 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 · high confidence

Out-of-bounds read vulnerability in Adobe Photoshop's file parsing code. When parsing a specially crafted malicious file, the application reads past the end of an allocated memory structure, which can be leveraged for code execution in the context of the current user.

MitigationUpdate Adobe Photoshop to version 22.5.9 or later for the 22.x branch, or version 23.5 or later for the 23.x branch. Avoid opening files 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
PhotoshopApplication
Affected:>= 22.0, <= 22.5.8>= 23.0, <= 23.4.2

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
High
Availability
High

CVSS:3.1/AV:L/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 checks

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

  1. Check Photoshop version on Windows via Registry
    Open Registry Editor and navigate to HKLM\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\App Paths\Photoshop.exe, or run `reg query "HKLM\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\App Paths\Photoshop.exe" /v Path` to find the install location, then check the version of the executable.
    Affected if The installed version falls within 22.0 to 22.5.8 or 23.0 to 23.4.2 inclusive.
  2. Check Photoshop version on Windows via file properties
    Locate Photoshop.exe in the installation directory (typically C:\Program Files\Adobe\Adobe Photoshop [Version]), right-click the file, select Properties, and view the Details tab for the Product Version.
    Affected if The installed version falls within 22.0 to 22.5.8 or 23.0 to 23.4.2 inclusive.
  3. Check Photoshop version on macOS
    Open Finder, navigate to Applications, right-click Adobe Photoshop, select Get Info, and view the Version number under the General section.
    Affected if The installed version falls within 22.0 to 22.5.8 or 23.0 to 23.4.2 inclusive.
  4. Confirm vulnerability trigger condition
    This vulnerability is triggered during file parsing operations. Any action that opens an image file in Photoshop could potentially trigger the flaw if the file is specially crafted.
    Affected if The installed version is within the affected ranges AND the user opens image files in Photoshop.

You are affected if your installed Photoshop version is 22.0 through 22.5.8 or 23.0 through 23.4.2 and you open image files with the application.

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 a release after 23.4.2
Interim mitigation

Update Adobe Photoshop to version 22.5.9 or later for the 22.x branch, or version 23.5 or later for the 23.x branch. Avoid opening files from untrusted sources.

Recommended fix High confidence

Minimum: Photoshop 22.5.9 (for 22.x branch) or Photoshop 23.4.3+ (for 23.x branch); recommended: latest available version (24.x or newer)

  1. 1. Close Adobe Photoshop completely before applying any updates
  2. 2. Open Adobe Creative Cloud desktop application
  3. 3. Navigate to the Apps section
  4. 4. Find Adobe Photoshop in the installed apps list
  5. 5. Click the Update button next to Photoshop to install the latest version
  6. 6. Alternatively, manually download the latest Photoshop version from the Adobe website (adobe.com)
  7. 7. After updating, verify the version by going to Help > About Photoshop
  8. 8. Do not open untrusted or unexpected image files received via email or downloaded from untrusted sources
Caveat Adobe Photoshop updates may include UI changes, and some legacy features or third-party plugins may become incompatible with newer major versions

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

Fix this in Photoshop Scoped from the published advisory
  • Consultation2.0 h
  • Implementation4.0 h
  • Testing2.0 h
  • Review / QA1.0 h
9.0 hours of engineering $1,600
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Scan for this in your stack

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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-2022-38429 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