Webaccess\/hmi DesignerApplication · Advantech

CVE-2019-16901

HIGH · 7.5 CVSS v3.1 Published 2019-09-26
Mitigation only
No fix yet — a mitigation exists. There is no fixed release. A documented workaround reduces exposure in the meantime.
See remediation →
84/100
Remediation priority · High
Remotely reachable No privileges Zero-click

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 · unedited
Advantech WebAccess/HMI Designer 2.1.9.31 has Exception Handler Chain corruption starting at Unknown Symbol @ 0x0000000000000000 called from ntdll!RtlRaiseStatus+0x00000000000000b4.

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 confidence

Exception Handler Chain corruption vulnerability in Advantech WebAccess/HMI Designer 2.1.9.31 where memory corruption occurs during exception handling, triggered via a NULL pointer dereference (0x0000000000000000) when ntdll!RtlRaiseStatus is called. This type of memory corruption can potentially be leveraged for arbitrary code execution.

MitigationUpgrade to a patched version of Advantech WebAccess/HMI Designer when released by the vendor. Until then, apply compensating controls such as restricting network access to the application, limiting user privileges, and deploying endpoint detection tools to monitor for exploitation attempts.

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 data
Webaccess\/hmi DesignerApplication
Affected:= 2.1.9.31

CVSS 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
Low
Privileges
None
User interaction
None
Scope
Unchanged
Confidentiality
None
Integrity
None
Availability
High

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

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 checks

Work through these to decide whether this CVE applies to you.

  1. Confirm Advantech WebAccess/HMI Designer is installed
    Check for the application in the Windows registry under HKLM\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Uninstall or look for the installation directory (typically in C:\Program Files\Advantech\WebAccess HMI Designer or similar paths)
    Affected if The application is found on the system
  2. Identify the installed version
    Locate the executable file (typically named WebAccessHMI.exe or similar) and right-click to view Properties, then check the Version tab, or use PowerShell: Get-Item 'C:\Program Files\Advantech\WebAccess HMI Designer\*.exe' | Select-Object Name, VersionInfo
    Affected if The version displayed is 2.1.9.31
  3. Verify exact version match
    Compare the identified version string against the affected version 2.1.9.31 - ensure it matches exactly as the vulnerability applies only to this specific version
    Affected if The version is exactly 2.1.9.31
  4. Check for running processes
    Open Task Manager or use PowerShell: Get-Process | Where-Object {$_.ProcessName -like '*WebAccess*' -or $_.ProcessName -like '*HMI*'}
    Affected if The WebAccess/HMI Designer process is currently running

If Advantech WebAccess/HMI Designer version 2.1.9.31 is installed and running on the system, the environment is affected by this vulnerability.

Generated from the published advisory. Verify against your own configuration.

Check your environment

Paste your version and any relevant configuration and it will be compared against the affected criteria above. Do not include secrets or credentials.

AI-assisted, checked against the advisory. Informational, not a guarantee.

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 data
Mitigation available No clean upgrade yet — mitigate in the meantime
Mitigation

Upgrade to a patched version of Advantech WebAccess/HMI Designer when released by the vendor. Until then, apply compensating controls such as restricting network access to the application, limiting user privileges, and deploying endpoint detection tools to monitor for exploitation attempts.

Fix this in Webaccess\/hmi Designer Scoped from the published advisory
  • Consultation2.0 h
  • Implementation1.0 h
  • Testing2.0 h
  • Review / QA1.0 h
6.0 hours of engineering $1,060
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Scan for this in your stack

Free · runs locally
dbcve dependency scanner

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References Go to the primary sourcePrimary sources — vendor advisories, patches and trackers. Where our summary and a reference disagree, the reference wins.

Primary sources

Practitioner notes

Contributed

Peer-ranked notes from engineers who’ve handled CVE-2019-16901 in production — separate from our analysis above.

No notes yet

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What this is

A place for practitioners to share what actually worked: a mitigation you’ve tested, a configuration change, a version- or environment-specific caveat, or a link to a verified patch. The most useful notes rise to the top as peers upvote them, so the signal stays high.

What belongs here
  • 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
  • No spam, self-promotion, credentials, or personal data