CVE-2014-5506
Official description Straight from the sourceThe vendor's or NVD's own wording, published unedited. Authoritative, but often terse — it says what broke, rarely what to do.
NVD · uneditedDouble free vulnerability in SAP Crystal Reports allows remote attackers to execute arbitrary code via crafted connection string record in an RPT file.
Technical summary Written by usOur analysis, written from the advisory, the CVSS vector and the affected-version data. It adds context the advisory leaves out, and never invents facts that are not in the source.
dbcve analysis · moderate confidenceA double-free memory corruption vulnerability exists in SAP Crystal Reports when processing RPT files containing specially crafted connection string records. This memory handling flaw allows an attacker to potentially execute arbitrary code by providing a malicious RPT file, likely through social engineering or file upload scenarios.
Verify against the referenced sources before acting — the references below are authoritative for this CVE, this summary is not.
Affected products & versions What the vendor confirmedThe version ranges the vendor confirmed as vulnerable. If your version sits inside a range here, treat yourself as exposed until you have upgraded.
NVD · CPE dataall versionsCVSS breakdown How the score is builtThe industry scoring standard. It rates how the flaw is reached, what it takes to exploit, and what an attacker gains — the score is derived from those, not the other way round.
From the vector- Attack vector
- Network
- Complexity
- M
- Authentication
- None
- Confidentiality
- Partial
- Integrity
- Partial
- Availability
- Partial
AV:N/AC:M/Au:N/C:P/I:P/A:P
Am I affected? How to checkSteps we derive from the advisory and the affected-version data, so you can decide whether this CVE reaches your setup. They are a guide, not a scan — your own configuration is the authority.
dbcve checksWork through these to decide whether this CVE applies to you.
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Verify Crystal Reports installation existsCheck for Crystal Reports installation directory (commonly at C:\Program Files\SAP BusinessObjects\ or C:\Program Files (x86)\SAP BusinessObjects\) and look for files named crw32.exe, craxdrt.dll, or similar Crystal Reports executables and DLLsAffected if Crystal Reports executables or runtime DLLs are found on the system
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Confirm installed versionRight-click on the Crystal Reports executable (crw32.exe or similar) in the installation folder, select Properties, and check the File Version tab. Compare against vendor documentation or use the SAP BusinessObjects installation info.Affected if Any version of SAP Crystal Reports is installed (all versions are affected per CVE-2014-5506)
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Check RPT file associationOpen Windows Registry Editor and navigate to HKEY_CLASSES_ROOT\.rpt to verify RPT files are associated with Crystal Reports, or check if double-clicking an RPT file opens Crystal ReportsAffected if RPT files are associated with and openable by Crystal Reports application
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Identify exposed attack surfaceCheck if the Crystal Reports viewer component (craxdrt.dll or crw32.exe) is accessible to users who could potentially open malicious RPT files, or verify if the application is used in any file upload/processing scenarioAffected if Users can directly open or submit RPT files to Crystal Reports for processing
If SAP Crystal Reports is installed and can process RPT files (file association enabled or application accessible), the environment is affected by CVE-2014-5506 because all versions contain the double-free vulnerability in RPT file parsing.
Generated from the published advisory. Verify against your own configuration.
Remediation Closing itWhat it takes to close this. Where a vendor fix exists we point at it; where none exists we say so plainly, and can build one. Effort estimates are scoped from the advisory, not from your codebase.
From vendor dataApply the vendor patch for CVE-2014-5506 to all SAP Crystal Reports installations. Until patched, exercise extreme caution when opening RPT files from untrusted sources and consider disabling file associations or sandboxing the application.
- Consultation4.0 h
- Implementation8.0 h
- Testing6.0 h
- Review / QA3.0 h
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Scan for this in your stack
Free · runs locallyCheck whether your project pulls in CVE-2014-5506 — or any other known-vulnerable package — straight from your lock files. Free and open source; it runs locally and uploads nothing.
References Go to the primary sourcePrimary sources — vendor advisories, patches and trackers. Where our summary and a reference disagree, the reference wins.
Primary sourcesPractitioner notes
ContributedPeer-ranked notes from engineers who’ve handled CVE-2014-5506 in production — separate from our analysis above.
The advisory tells you what broke. It rarely tells you what actually worked. If you’ve dealt with this one, that detail is what the next engineer is searching for.
- The version that genuinely resolved it — not the one the vendor claimed
- A config change or rule that shut the vector down
- A gotcha in the upgrade path that cost you an afternoon
No notes yet
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- Verified mitigations, workarounds, and config changes
- Version or environment caveats, and links to real fixes
- No weaponised exploit code, or anything meant to cause harm
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