dbcve.org
PhotoshopApplication · Adobe

CVE-2022-38434

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 a Use After Free vulnerability that could result in arbitrary code execution 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

Adobe Photoshop versions 22.5.8 and earlier (22.x) and 23.4.2 and earlier (23.x) contain a Use After Free vulnerability in the handling of maliciously crafted files. An attacker can exploit this memory corruption issue to achieve arbitrary code execution in the context of the current user, requiring the victim to open a specially crafted file.

MitigationUpdate Adobe Photoshop to version 23.5 or later (for 23.x branch) or 22.5.9 or later (for 22.x branch). Until patched, 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. Determine installed Adobe Photoshop version
    Open Photoshop, go to Help > About Photoshop (Windows) or Photoshop > About Photoshop (Mac), or check the executable file properties (right-click Photoshop.exe > Properties > Details). On Windows, you can also check the registry under HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Adobe\Photoshop\InstallVersion
    Affected if The version displayed falls within 22.0 to 22.5.8 or 23.0 to 23.4.2
  2. Verify the file handling attack vector
    This vulnerability is triggered only when opening a specially crafted malicious file. Check whether users in your environment commonly open image files (PSD, PSB, JPEG, PNG with embedded content) from untrusted or unknown sources, email attachments, or download sites.
    Affected if Users routinely open image files from untrusted or external sources without prior validation
  3. Confirm the vulnerability trigger condition
    The Use After Free flaw occurs specifically in the parsing of maliciously crafted image files. There is no server-side component or network-based trigger - the victim must actively open a booby-trapped file.
    Affected if A user with an affected Photoshop version opens a specially crafted malicious image file

You are affected if Adobe Photoshop version 22.0-22.5.8 or 23.0-23.4.2 is installed AND a user opens a maliciously crafted image file with that 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 23.5 or later (for 23.x branch) or 22.5.9 or later (for 22.x branch). Until patched, avoid opening files from untrusted sources.

Recommended fix Moderate confidence

Photoshop 22.5.9 (2021) or 23.5.0 (2022) and later

  1. 1. Close Adobe Photoshop if it is currently running
  2. 2. Open Adobe Creative Cloud desktop application or navigate to https://creativecloud.adobe.com
  3. 3. Locate Adobe Photoshop in your installed applications
  4. 4. Click on the update option to install the latest version, or manually download from https://helpx.adobe.com/download-install.html
  5. 5. Verify the installed version matches or exceeds the fixed release (22.5.9 or later for Photoshop 2021, 23.5.0 or later for Photoshop 2022)
  6. 6. Do not open untrusted or suspicious image files, especially from unknown sources, until the update is applied

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

Fix this in Photoshop Scoped from the published advisory
  • Consultation1.0 h
  • Implementation2.0 h
  • Testing1.0 h
  • Review / QA1.0 h
5.0 hours of engineering $890
Get the upgrade done

An estimate, not a bill — we confirm scope with you before any work starts. Need it this week? Rush from $1,424.

Scan for this in your stack

Free · runs locally
dbcve dependency scanner

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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-2022-38434 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