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ElementApplication

CVE-2022-41904

MEDIUM · 6.5 CVSS v3.1 Published 2022-11-11
Fix available
A fix is available. Upgrade to 1.9.7 or later.
See remediation →
74/100
Remediation priority · Elevated
Remotely reachable No privileges Zero-click

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
Element iOS is an iOS Matrix client provided by Element. It is based on MatrixSDK. Prior to version 1.9.7, events encrypted using Megolm for which trust could not be established did not get decorated accordingly (with warning shields). Therefore a malicious homeserver could inject messages into the room without the user being alerted that the messages were not sent by a verified group member, even if the user has previously verified all group members. This issue has been patched in Element iOS 1.9.7. There are currently no known workarounds.

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

A vulnerability in Element iOS where encrypted Megolm messages that could not have their trust established failed to display warning shields. This allowed a malicious homeserver to inject fake messages into a room that appeared to come from verified group members without triggering any trust warnings, even when the user had previously verified all group members.

MitigationUpgrade Element iOS to version 1.9.7 or later to receive the patched code that properly decorates untrusted Megolm events with warning indicators.

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
ElementApplication
Affected:< 1.9.7

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
Network
Complexity
Low
Privileges
None
User interaction
None
Scope
Unchanged
Confidentiality
Low
Integrity
Low
Availability
None

CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:L/PR:N/UI:N/S:U/C:L/I:L/A:N

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 your Element iOS app version
    Open the Element app, go to Settings > About to view the installed version number
    Affected if The version is lower than 1.9.7 (for example, 1.9.6, 1.9.5, etc.)
  2. Confirm use of encrypted group messaging
    Look for rooms that show a shield icon or use Matrix end-to-end encryption (E2E), which uses the Megolm encryption protocol for group chats
    Affected if You participate in encrypted rooms where messages are protected by Megolm encryption
  3. Check if you have verified group members
    In encrypted rooms, verify if you have verified the devices of other group members (typically indicated by green checkmarks or verification badges)
    Affected if You have verified one or more group members in encrypted Megolm rooms, and the app version is below 1.9.7
  4. Inspect message warning indicators
    In encrypted rooms with verified members, examine messages for warning shields or trust indicators, especially for messages that could originate from new sessions
    Affected if Messages from verified group members appear without any warning shields even when trust cannot be fully established for the session that sent them

You are affected if you use Element iOS version below 1.9.7 and participate in encrypted Megolm group rooms with verified members, where messages display without warning shields despite untrusted session conditions.

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 1.9.7 or later
Fixed in 1.9.7
Interim mitigation

Upgrade Element iOS to version 1.9.7 or later to receive the patched code that properly decorates untrusted Megolm events with warning indicators.

Recommended fix High confidence

1.9.7

  1. Upgrade Element iOS to version 1.9.7 or later from the Apple App Store

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

Fix this in Element Scoped from the published advisory
  • Consultation3.0 h
  • Implementation12.0 h
  • Testing6.0 h
  • Review / QA3.0 h
24.0 hours of engineering $4,200
Get the upgrade done

An estimate, not a bill — we confirm scope with you before any work starts. Need it this week? Rush from $6,720.

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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-2022-41904 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