CVE-2022-24086: Adobe Commerce RCE Vulnerability

CVE-2022-24086 Overview

CVE-2022-24086 is a critical improper input validation vulnerability affecting Adobe Commerce and Magento Open Source platforms. The flaw exists in the checkout process and allows unauthenticated remote attackers to achieve arbitrary code execution without any user interaction. This vulnerability has been actively exploited in the wild, prompting CISA to add it to the Known Exploited Vulnerabilities (KEV) catalog.

Critical Impact

Unauthenticated remote code execution during checkout process with no user interaction required. This vulnerability is actively exploited in the wild and is listed in CISA's Known Exploited Vulnerabilities catalog.

Affected Products

• Adobe Commerce versions 2.4.3-p1 and earlier
• Adobe Commerce versions 2.3.7-p2 and earlier
• Adobe Magento Open Source versions 2.4.3-p1 and earlier
• Adobe Magento Open Source versions 2.3.7-p2 and earlier

Discovery Timeline

• 2022-02-16 - CVE-2022-24086 published to NVD
• 2025-10-23 - Last updated in NVD database

Technical Details for CVE-2022-24086

Vulnerability Analysis

This vulnerability stems from improper input validation (CWE-20) within the checkout process of Adobe Commerce and Magento platforms. The flaw allows attackers to inject malicious input that bypasses security controls, ultimately leading to arbitrary code execution on the underlying server.

The vulnerability is particularly dangerous because it requires no authentication and no user interaction to exploit. An attacker can remotely target the checkout functionality of vulnerable e-commerce installations to execute arbitrary commands with the privileges of the web server process. Given that Adobe Commerce and Magento power a significant portion of global e-commerce operations, this vulnerability poses substantial risk to online retailers and their customers.

The extremely high EPSS score (93.78% probability of exploitation) reflects the real-world exploitation activity and the attractiveness of this target to threat actors seeking to compromise e-commerce platforms for financial gain, data theft, or supply chain attacks.

Root Cause

The root cause of CVE-2022-24086 is improper input validation in the checkout workflow. The application fails to adequately sanitize user-supplied input during the checkout process, allowing specially crafted malicious input to be processed in an unsafe manner. This lack of proper input validation enables attackers to inject code that gets executed by the server.

Attack Vector

The attack is network-based and targets the checkout functionality of vulnerable Adobe Commerce and Magento installations. An unauthenticated attacker can send specially crafted requests to the checkout endpoint containing malicious payloads. Due to the improper input validation, these payloads are processed without adequate sanitization, resulting in arbitrary code execution.

The attack requires no privileges, no user interaction, and can be executed remotely over the network. Successful exploitation grants the attacker the ability to execute arbitrary code within the context of the web application, potentially leading to complete system compromise, data exfiltration, or deployment of web shells and backdoors.

Detection Methods for CVE-2022-24086

Indicators of Compromise

• Unexpected web shells or backdoor files appearing in the Magento/Commerce installation directories
• Anomalous outbound network connections from the web server to unknown external hosts
• Unusual process spawning from PHP or web server processes
• Suspicious modifications to checkout-related PHP files or template files
• Evidence of data exfiltration or unauthorized database access in server logs

Detection Strategies

• Monitor web server access logs for unusual patterns in checkout-related requests, particularly those with abnormal parameter values or encoded payloads
• Deploy Web Application Firewall (WAF) rules to detect and block exploitation attempts targeting the checkout functionality
• Implement file integrity monitoring on critical Magento/Commerce directories to detect unauthorized modifications
• Review PHP error logs for injection-related errors or unexpected code execution attempts

Monitoring Recommendations

• Enable comprehensive logging for all checkout process activities and API endpoints
• Configure real-time alerting for any detected exploitation attempts or suspicious checkout behavior
• Monitor server resource utilization for anomalies that may indicate active compromise
• Regularly audit user accounts and administrative access for unauthorized changes

How to Mitigate CVE-2022-24086

Immediate Actions Required

• Apply the official security patch from Adobe immediately to all affected Adobe Commerce and Magento Open Source installations
• Review web server and application logs for evidence of prior exploitation attempts
• Conduct a thorough security assessment of systems that may have been exposed while unpatched
• Implement network segmentation to limit the potential impact of a successful compromise
• Consider temporarily restricting access to checkout functionality if patching cannot be completed immediately

Patch Information

Adobe has released security patches to address this vulnerability. Administrators should apply the patches detailed in Adobe Security Advisory APSB22-12 as soon as possible. Due to the critical nature of this vulnerability and its active exploitation, patching should be treated as an emergency priority.

Organizations should upgrade to Adobe Commerce 2.4.3-p2 or 2.3.7-p3 (or later versions) to remediate this vulnerability. For detailed patch instructions and download links, refer to the official Adobe security bulletin.

Workarounds

• Deploy a Web Application Firewall (WAF) with rules specifically designed to detect and block CVE-2022-24086 exploitation attempts
• Implement strict input validation at the network perimeter for requests targeting checkout endpoints
• Consider temporarily disabling checkout functionality on highly sensitive installations until patches can be applied
• Enable additional server-side logging and monitoring to detect exploitation attempts

# Configuration example
# Verify your Adobe Commerce/Magento version
php bin/magento --version

# Check for applied patches
composer show magento/product-community-edition

# After patching, clear cache and recompile
php bin/magento cache:clean
php bin/magento setup:upgrade
php bin/magento setup:di:compile