CVE-2022-38742
Published: 23 September 2022
Summary
CVE-2022-38742 is a high-severity Heap-based Buffer Overflow (CWE-122) vulnerability in Rockwellautomation Thinmanager. Its CVSS base score is 8.1 (High).
Operationally, ranked in the top 8.9% of CVEs by exploit likelihood; it is not currently listed in the CISA KEV catalog.
Deeper analysis
Rockwell Automation ThinManager ThinServer versions 11.0.0 through 13.0.0 contain a heap-based buffer overflow vulnerability tracked as CVE-2022-38742. The flaw, assigned CWE-122 and CWE-787, resides in the ThinServer process and can be triggered by a crafted TFTP or HTTPS request, leading to memory corruption that crashes the service.
An unauthenticated remote attacker can send the malicious request over the network to exploit the issue. Successful exploitation yields arbitrary remote code execution with high impact on confidentiality, integrity, and availability, although the CVSS vector notes high attack complexity.
The vendor advisory at rockwellautomation.custhelp.com directs customers to apply the fixes released for affected ThinManager versions and provides guidance on restricting exposure of the TFTP and HTTPS interfaces.
EPSS for the CVE rose from a low baseline to a peak of 0.3524 in December 2025 before receding to the current 0.0628, indicating that exploitation interest increased well after initial disclosure.
EU & UK References
- 🇪🇺 ENISA EUVD: EUVD-2022-41309
Vulnerability details
Rockwell Automation ThinManager ThinServer versions 11.0.0 - 13.0.0 is vulnerable to a heap-based buffer overflow. An attacker could send a specifically crafted TFTP or HTTPS request, causing a heap-based buffer overflow that crashes the ThinServer process. If successfully exploited, this…
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could expose the server to arbitrary remote code execution.
- CWE(s)
Related Threats
No named actor attribution yet. ATT&CK technique mapping in progress for this CVE.
Affected Assets
Mitigating Controls
Likely Mitigating Controls AI
Per-CVE control mapping for this CVE has not run yet; the list below is derived from the weakness types (CWEs) cited in the NVD entry.
Out-of-bounds writes that corrupt control flow or inject shellcode are rendered non-executable by the same memory protections.