CVE-2022-48221
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 · uneditedAn issue was discovered in Acuant AcuFill SDK before 10.22.02.03. Multiple MSI's get executed out of a standard-user writable directory. Through a race condition and OpLock manipulation, these files can be overwritten by a standard user. They then get executed by the elevated installer. This gives a standard user full SYSTEM code execution (elevation of privileges).
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 confidenceThe Acuant AcuFill SDK before version 10.22.02.03 has a privilege escalation vulnerability where MSI installer files are executed from a standard-user writable directory. An attacker with standard user privileges can exploit a race condition combined with OpLock manipulation to overwrite these MSI files with malicious content. When the elevated installer executes the modified MSI files, the attacker achieves full SYSTEM code execution.
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< 10.22.02.03CVSS 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
- High
- Privileges
- Low
- User interaction
- None
- Scope
- Unchanged
- Confidentiality
- High
- Integrity
- High
- Availability
- High
CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:H/PR:L/UI:N/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.
-
Check if Acuant AcuFill SDK is installedLook for Acuant AcuFill SDK in the system registry under HKLM\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Uninstall or check for the presence of Acuant installation directories (commonly in C:\Program Files\Acuant or C:\Program Files (x86)\Acuant)Affected if Acuant AcuFill SDK is found on the system
-
Identify the installed version of Acuant AcuFill SDKCheck the version information in the registry uninstall entry or examine the version string in the Acuant application files (typically in the main SDK folder)Affected if The installed version is lower than 10.22.02.03
-
Locate MSI installer files used by AcuantSearch for MSI installer files related to Acuant AcuFill in the system - check the temp directory, user-download folders, or any directory where installers may have been extractedAffected if MSI installer files exist in directories with standard-user write permissions (e.g., temp folders, user directories, Downloads)
-
Verify directory permissions on Acuant installer locationsUse icacls or check file system permissions on directories where Acuant installer files are stored to confirm if standard users have write accessAffected if The directories containing Acuant MSI installers grant write permissions to standard (non-admin) users
Acuant AcuFill SDK versions prior to 10.22.02.03 are affected when installer MSI files are located in user-writable directories, allowing privilege escalation via race condition attacks.
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 · scoped10.22.02.03
Upgrade Acuant AcuFill SDK to version 10.22.02.03 or later. Additionally, ensure installer files are extracted and executed from secure, non-writable locations and implement application whitelisting to mitigate such race condition attacks.
10.22.02.03
- Identify all systems with Acuant AcuFill SDK installed
- Verify current version is below 10.22.02.03 by checking the installed SDK version
- Obtain Acuant AcuFill SDK version 10.22.02.03 or later from the official vendor (Acuant)
- Test the upgrade in a non-production environment first
- Deploy the upgrade to production systems following standard change management procedures
- Verify the upgrade was successful by confirming the installed version is 10.22.02.03 or later
Generated from the published advisory — verify against the referenced sources before acting.
- Consultation4.0 h
- Implementation8.0 h
- Testing8.0 h
- Review / QA4.0 h
An estimate, not a bill — we confirm scope with you before any work starts. Need it this week? Rush from $6,656.
Scan for this in your stack
Free · runs locallyCheck whether your project pulls in CVE-2022-48221 — 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-2022-48221 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
Be the first to add a field note for this CVE — a mitigation you’ve verified, a version caveat, or a link to a working fix. Sign in above to contribute.
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