CVE-2022-48222
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. During SDK installation, certutil.exe is called by the Acuant installer to install certificates. This window is not hidden, and is running with elevated privileges. A standard user can break out of this window, obtaining a full SYSTEM command prompt window. This results in complete compromise via arbitrary 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 installer (versions before 10.22.02.03) invokes certutil.exe with elevated privileges during certificate installation. Because the certutil window is visible and not properly sandboxed, a standard user can escape the window context to spawn a SYSTEM-level command prompt, achieving full privilege escalation to arbitrary code execution at SYSTEM level.
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
- Local
- Complexity
- Low
- Privileges
- Low
- User interaction
- None
- Scope
- Unchanged
- Confidentiality
- High
- Integrity
- High
- Availability
- High
CVSS:3.1/AV:L/AC:L/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.
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Locate Acuant AcuFill SDK installationCheck for the presence of Acuant AcuFill SDK in the Windows registry under HKLM\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Uninstall or look in Program Files directories for Acuant foldersAffected if The SDK or its installer files are found on the system
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Identify installed versionRead the version information from the registry key or from the installer executable properties if the installer package is availableAffected if A version number is retrieved that is below 10.22.02.03
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Confirm vulnerability contextThe vulnerability exists in the installer process when certutil.exe runs with elevated privileges and displays a visible window. If the SDK was installed using a version before 10.22.02.03, the installer contained this flawAffected if The installed version is lower than 10.22.02.03, indicating the vulnerable installer was likely used
A system is affected if Acuant AcuFill SDK version lower than 10.22.02.03 is installed, as the installer used contained the certutil.exe privilege escalation flaw.
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, which addresses the certutil.exe window exposure and properly secures the elevated execution context.
10.22.02.03
- Upgrade Acuant AcuFill SDK to version 10.22.02.03 or later
- Verify the upgrade was successful by checking the installed version in the SDK documentation or program files
- Ensure the installation completes without the certutil.exe window appearing to users, confirming the vulnerability is patched
- Test the application functionality to ensure the upgrade does not break existing workflows
Generated from the published advisory — verify against the referenced sources before acting.
- Consultation2.0 h
- Implementation3.0 h
- Testing3.0 h
- Review / QA1.0 h
An estimate, not a bill — we confirm scope with you before any work starts. Need it this week? Rush from $2,512.
Scan for this in your stack
Free · runs locallyCheck whether your project pulls in CVE-2022-48222 — 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-2022-48222 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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- 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
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