CVE-2022-28042 [High] | Use-After-Free in Stb Image.h

CVE-2022-28042 is rated High Exploit Risk (75.7/100): CVSS High severity, with medium exploitation likelihood (EPSS 1.60%). 1 public exploit reference(s) are indexed (Exploit-DB). Public exploits are available—assess exposure, apply mitigations, and prioritize patching.

EDB-ID	Source	Kind	Published	Link
—	nvd_ref	exploit_tag		Exploit-DB ↗

EDB-ID

Source

Kind

Published

Link

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nvd_ref

exploit_tag

Exploit-DB ↗

#	Date	Old EPSS score	New EPSS score	Delta (New - Old)
1	2026-07-02	1.55%	1.60%	+0.05%
2	2026-06-15	0.48%	1.55%	+1.06%
3	2026-05-23	—	0.48%	—

Date

Old EPSS score

New EPSS score

Delta (New - Old)

2026-07-02

1.55%

1.60%

+0.05%

2026-06-15

0.48%

1.55%

+1.06%

2026-05-23

—

0.48%

—

Base score	Version	Severity	Vector	Exploitability	Impact	Score source
8.8	3.1	HIGH	`CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:L/PR:N/UI:R/S:U/C:H/I:H/A:H` Click to expand Attack vector (AV:N) Could be attacked over the internet or any normal routed network—not just someone sitting at the machine. Attack complexity (AC:L) Once they can reach the bug, pulling it off is straightforward—no weird race conditions or rare setup. Privileges required (PR:N) No account or special rights needed—anonymous or random user is enough. User interaction (UI:R) A real person has to do something—click, install, enable—otherwise it doesn’t land. Scope (S:U) Damage stays in the same “trust bubble” as the broken component—no big spill into unrelated systems. Confidentiality (C:H) Serious risk that confidential data gets exposed in a big way. Integrity (I:H) They could widely tamper with or forge data—trust in the data is badly hurt. Availability (A:H) Could take the service down hard or make it unusable for people who depend on it.	2.8	5.9	[email protected]
6.8	2.0	MEDIUM	`AV:N/AC:M/Au:N/C:P/I:P/A:P` Click to expand Access vector (AV:N) Can be exploited remotely over network reachability. Access complexity (AC:M) Exploitation needs some favorable conditions, but not exceptional ones. Authentication (AU:N) No authentication is required. Confidentiality impact (C:P) Partial confidentiality impact. Integrity impact (I:P) Partial integrity impact. Availability impact (A:P) Partial availability impact.	8.6	6.4	[email protected]

Base score

Version

Severity

Vector

Exploitability

Impact

Score source

8.8

3.1

HIGH

CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:L/PR:N/UI:R/S:U/C:H/I:H/A:H Click to expand

Attack vector (AV:N): Could be attacked over the internet or any normal routed network—not just someone sitting at the machine.
Attack complexity (AC:L): Once they can reach the bug, pulling it off is straightforward—no weird race conditions or rare setup.
Privileges required (PR:N): No account or special rights needed—anonymous or random user is enough.
User interaction (UI:R): A real person has to do something—click, install, enable—otherwise it doesn’t land.
Scope (S:U): Damage stays in the same “trust bubble” as the broken component—no big spill into unrelated systems.
Confidentiality (C:H): Serious risk that confidential data gets exposed in a big way.
Integrity (I:H): They could widely tamper with or forge data—trust in the data is badly hurt.
Availability (A:H): Could take the service down hard or make it unusable for people who depend on it.

2.8

5.9

[email protected]

6.8

2.0

MEDIUM

AV:N/AC:M/Au:N/C:P/I:P/A:P Click to expand

Access vector (AV:N): Can be exploited remotely over network reachability.
Access complexity (AC:M): Exploitation needs some favorable conditions, but not exceptional ones.
Authentication (AU:N): No authentication is required.
Confidentiality impact (C:P): Partial confidentiality impact.
Integrity impact (I:P): Partial integrity impact.
Availability impact (A:P): Partial availability impact.

8.6

6.4

[email protected]

OS Trackers for CVE-2022-28042

vendor	priority	summary	link
`debian`	not yet assigned	CVE-2022-28042 not yet assigned priority: Debian including 1 source packages (libstb), 5 status rows across 5 suites (bookworm, bullseye, forky, sid, trixie): resolved 4, open 1.	https://security-tracker.debian.org/tracker/CVE-2022-28042
`gentoo`	normal	CVE-2022-28042: 1 GLSA(s) (202409-15), 1 atom(s) (dev-libs/stb); latest impact normal.	https://bugs.gentoo.org/buglist.cgi?quicksearch=CVE-2022-28042
`redhat`	medium	—	https://access.redhat.com/security/cve/CVE-2022-28042
`ubuntu`	medium	CVE-2022-28042 medium priority: Ubuntu including 1 source packages (libstb), 13 status rows across 13 suites (focal, impish, jammy, kinetic, lunar, mantic, noble, oracular, plucky, questing, trusty, upstream, xenial): ignored 8, needs-triage 5.	https://ubuntu.com/security/CVE-2022-28042

Affected software / configurations for CVE-2022-28042

Vendor	Product	Version	Raw CPE
nothings	stb_image.h	2.27	cpe:2.3:a:nothings:stb_image.h:2.27:::::::*
fedoraproject	fedora	34	cpe:2.3:o:fedoraproject:fedora:34:::::::*
fedoraproject	fedora	35	cpe:2.3:o:fedoraproject:fedora:35:::::::*
fedoraproject	fedora	36	cpe:2.3:o:fedoraproject:fedora:36:::::::*
debian	debian_linux	10.0	cpe:2.3:o:debian:debian_linux:10.0:::::::*

References for CVE-2022-28042

URL	Tags
https://github.com/nothings/stb/issues/1289	Exploit Issue Tracking Third Party Advisory
https://github.com/nothings/stb/pull/1297	Patch Third Party Advisory
https://lists.debian.org/debian-lts-announce/2023/01/msg00045.html	Mailing List Third Party Advisory
https://lists.fedoraproject.org/archives/list/package-announce%40lists.fedoraproject.org/message/5FXLM5XL77SNH4IPTSXOQD7XL4E2EMIN/
https://lists.fedoraproject.org/archives/list/package-announce%40lists.fedoraproject.org/message/I4HXIWU5HBOADXZVMREHT4YTO5WVYXEQ/
https://lists.fedoraproject.org/archives/list/package-announce%40lists.fedoraproject.org/message/MMBCMJGAZRQS55SNECUWZSC5URVLEZ5R/

URL

CVE-2022-28042

Public exploit references (Exploit-DB) for CVE-2022-28042

Exploit prediction scoring system (EPSS) score for CVE-2022-28042

Common vulnerability scoring system (CVSS) metrics for CVE-2022-28042

Weakness enumeration for CVE-2022-28042

OS Trackers for CVE-2022-28042

Affected software / configurations for CVE-2022-28042

References for CVE-2022-28042