Security readout for executives and security teams
Plain-English summary
Open Babel can be crashed or potentially taken over when it parses a specially crafted MOPAC chemistry file. The issue is critical because the source says malformed input can lead to arbitrary code execution in affected Open Babel builds.
Executive priority
Treat as urgent where Open Babel processes externally supplied chemistry files. Business risk is highest for public upload portals, research platforms, and automated conversion services using affected versions.
Technical view
CVE-2022-46292 is a CWE-119 out-of-bounds write in Open Babel translationVectors parsing. It affects Open Babel 3.1.1 and master commit 530dbfa3, specifically the MOPAC Unit Cell Translation section. CVSS 3.1 is 9.8, with no privileges or user interaction required in the CVE vector.
Likely exposure
Likely exposure is limited to environments running affected Open Babel versions that process MOPAC files or accept chemistry files from users, partners, automated pipelines, or web services. The bundle does not identify other affected products or downstream packages.
Exploitation context
The CVE source says an attacker can provide a malicious file to trigger the vulnerability and potentially achieve arbitrary code execution. The bundle does not show CISA KEV listing or other evidence of active exploitation.
Researcher notes
Evidence is concise but high impact: Talos and CVE describe multiple out-of-bounds writes in translationVectors parsing for MOPAC Unit Cell Translation. No exploit status, patch version, or workaround is included in the provided bundle.
Mitigation direction
- Inventory Open Babel deployments and identify affected versions.
- Check Open Babel and Talos guidance for fixed versions or vendor mitigations.
- Avoid processing untrusted MOPAC files until remediation is confirmed.
- Isolate file conversion workloads from sensitive systems and credentials.
- Restrict upload paths that feed files into Open Babel parsers.
Validation and detection
- Confirm whether Open Babel 3.1.1 or commit 530dbfa3 is present.
- Map all services and pipelines that process MOPAC files.
- Review file upload and conversion paths for untrusted input exposure.
- Verify remediation against vendor guidance, not exploit reproduction.
- Check sandboxing and privilege boundaries around conversion workers.
Public sources used
Generated from the cited source records. This long-tail analysis has not been individually reviewed by a named human.
Conservative CVE-to-ATT&CK context
These mappings and lookup hints may be relevant to the vulnerability behavior, CWE, affected product, or exposure path. Glexia-inferred context is not an official MITRE, ATT&CK, CWE, or CVE Program mapping.
ATT&CK lookup starting points
Use these exact CWE pages and searches to review the Glexia ATT&CK library from this CVE's weakness and description context.
CWE-119: Exact CWE lookup
Use the exact CWE identifier as the starting point before reviewing related ATT&CK behavior. Open the exact CWE lookup page first, then review the ATT&CK searches from that MITRE weakness context. This is a Glexia lookup hint, not an official ATT&CK mapping.
Open ATT&CK lookupExecution behavior lookup
The CVE wording references code or command execution, so execution technique review may help defensive triage. This is a Glexia inferred lookup path, not an official MITRE, ATT&CK, or CVE Program mapping.
Open ATT&CK lookupCVE-2022-46292 mapping review
Open the CVE-to-ATT&CK bridge for reviewed, inferred, or future official mappings tied to this CVE.
Open ATT&CK lookup- Severity
- Critical
- CVSS
- 9.8 (3.1)
- Known Exploited
- No
- Published
Vector: CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:L/PR:N/UI:N/S:U/C:H/I:H/A:H
CNA and ADP enrichment extracted from CVE v5
These fields come from the CVE record and ADP containers, not from Glexia's Take. They preserve time-varying source decisions such as CISA SSVC, KEV status, CVSS metrics, and provider references.
CVSS vector scores
1 official scoreWe collect every scored CVSS vector available in the official CNA and ADP containers. When more than one version is present, the table keeps the source vectors side by side instead of collapsing them into the highest score.
CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:L/PR:N/UI:N/S:U/C:H/I:H/A:H3.95.9Primary CVE scoreVulnerability scoring details
Base CVSS 3.1 score
9.8CriticalVector: CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:L/PR:N/UI:N/S:U/C:H/I:H/A:H
Source materials
Products and packages named in the record
CWE details
CWE links open Glexia weakness intelligence pages with official CWE context, developer remediation guidance, and related CVE mappings.
Improper Restriction of Operations within the Bounds of a Memory Buffer
Improper Restriction of Operations within the Bounds of a Memory Buffer represents a recurring weakness pattern that can create exploitable paths when design, validation, or implementation controls are missing.