CVE-2022-24056
📋 TL;DR
CVE-2022-24056 is a buffer overflow vulnerability in Sante DICOM Viewer Pro that allows remote code execution when a user opens a malicious J2K image file. Attackers can exploit this to run arbitrary code with the same privileges as the current user. Users of Sante DICOM Viewer Pro 11.8.7.0 are affected.
💻 Affected Systems
- Sante DICOM Viewer Pro
📦 What is this software?
⚠️ Risk & Real-World Impact
Worst Case
Complete system compromise with attacker gaining full control of the affected system, potentially leading to data theft, ransomware deployment, or lateral movement within the network.
Likely Case
Local privilege escalation leading to data exfiltration, installation of malware, or persistence mechanisms on the affected workstation.
If Mitigated
Limited impact if application runs with minimal privileges, sandboxed, or network segmentation prevents lateral movement.
🎯 Exploit Status
User interaction required (opening malicious file). Buffer overflow exploitation is well-understood and likely weaponized given the RCE potential.
🛠️ Fix & Mitigation
✅ Official Fix
Patch Version: 11.8.8.0 or later
Vendor Advisory: https://www.santesoft.com/security-advisories
Restart Required: Yes
Instructions:
1. Download latest version from SanteSoft website. 2. Run installer. 3. Restart system. 4. Verify version is 11.8.8.0 or higher.
🔧 Temporary Workarounds
Disable J2K file association
windowsRemove file association for .j2k files to prevent automatic opening in vulnerable application
reg delete "HKEY_CLASSES_ROOT\.j2k" /f
reg delete "HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Explorer\FileExts\.j2k" /f
Application sandboxing
windowsRun Sante DICOM Viewer in restricted environment to limit damage from exploitation
🧯 If You Can't Patch
- Implement application allowlisting to prevent execution of unauthorized binaries
- Deploy endpoint detection and response (EDR) to monitor for exploitation attempts
🔍 How to Verify
Check if Vulnerable:
Check Help > About in Sante DICOM Viewer for version number. If version is 11.8.7.0, system is vulnerable.Check Version:
Not applicable - check via application GUIVerify Fix Applied:
Verify version is 11.8.8.0 or higher in Help > About menu.📡 Detection & Monitoring
Log Indicators:
- Application crashes with J2K file processing
- Unusual process spawning from Sante DICOM Viewer
Network Indicators:
- Outbound connections from Sante DICOM Viewer to unknown IPs
- DNS requests for suspicious domains
SIEM Query:
process_name:"SanteDICOMViewer.exe" AND (event_id:1000 OR event_id:1001) OR process_parent_name:"SanteDICOMViewer.exe"