CVE-2022-38431
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 · uneditedAdobe 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 confidenceAdobe Photoshop versions 22.5.8 and earlier and 23.4.2 and earlier contain an out-of-bounds read vulnerability when parsing a crafted file. The vulnerability allows reading past the end of an allocated memory structure, which can potentially be leveraged for arbitrary code execution in the context of the current user. Exploitation requires user interaction where a victim must open a maliciously crafted file.
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>= 22.0, <= 22.5.8>= 23.0, <= 23.4.2CVSS 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 checksWork through these to decide whether this CVE applies to you.
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Check installed Adobe Photoshop versionOpen Photoshop, go to Help > About Photoshop (or on Mac Photoshop > About Photoshop). The version number appears in the title bar or about dialog.Affected if The version displayed is 22.0 through 22.5.8, or 23.0 through 23.4.2.
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Verify Photoshop is installedCheck for Photoshop installation: On Windows, look for Adobe Photoshop in Program Files/Adobe. On Mac, check /Applications for Adobe Photoshop.app. You can also check the Windows Registry or Mac Application folder.Affected if Photoshop is installed and version falls within the affected ranges above.
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Confirm file parsing is the attack vectorThe vulnerability triggers when Photoshop parses a crafted image file. No special feature needs enabling - this occurs when opening any file that Photoshop supports (PSD, JPEG, PNG, TIFF, etc.).Affected if Users open image files in Photoshop. The vulnerability is triggered upon opening a maliciously crafted file.
You are affected if Adobe Photoshop version 22.0-22.5.8 or 23.0-23.4.2 is installed and users open image files with the application.
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 · scopedUpdate Adobe Photoshop to version 22.5.9 or later for the 22.x branch, or version 23.5.0 or later for the 23.x branch. Avoid opening untrusted or unexpected image files, and apply the principle of least privilege to limit the impact of potential exploitation.
Photoshop 22.5.9 (2021) or Photoshop 23.4.3 (2022) and later
- 1. Close Adobe Photoshop if it is currently running
- 2. Back up any existing Photoshop files and preferences if desired
- 3. Open Adobe Creative Cloud desktop application or navigate to adobe.com
- 4. Locate Adobe Photoshop in your installed applications
- 5. Click Update to download and install the latest version, or manually download from adobe.com
- 6. Restart Photoshop after the update completes
- 7. Verify the version by going to Help > About Photoshop and confirm the version number is 22.5.9 or higher for 2021 release, or 23.4.3 or higher for 2022 release
Generated from the published advisory — verify against the referenced sources before acting.
- Consultation1.0 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-2022-38431 — 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-2022-38431 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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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.
- 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