CVE-2021-29097
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 · uneditedMultiple buffer overflow vulnerabilities when parsing a specially crafted file in Esri ArcReader, ArcGIS Desktop, ArcGIS Engine 10.8.1 (and earlier) and ArcGIS Pro 2.7 (and earlier) allow an unauthenticated attacker to achieve arbitrary code execution in the context of the current user.
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 · high confidenceMultiple buffer overflow vulnerabilities exist in Esri ArcReader, ArcGIS Desktop, ArcGIS Engine 10.8.1 and earlier, and ArcGIS Pro 2.7 and earlier when parsing specially crafted files. These buffer overflows allow an unauthenticated attacker to execute arbitrary code in the context of the current user by tricking them into opening a malicious file.
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<= 10.8.1<= 2.7<= 10.8.1<= 10.8.1CVSS 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
- Local
- Complexity
- Low
- Privileges
- None
- User interaction
- Required
- Scope
- Unchanged
- Confidentiality
- High
- Integrity
- High
- Availability
- High
CVSS:3.1/AV:L/AC:L/PR:N/UI:R/S:U/C:H/I:H/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 checksWork through these to decide whether this CVE applies to you.
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List installed Esri softwareOpen Windows Control Panel > Programs and Features, or run 'Get-ItemProperty HKLM:\Software\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Uninstall\* | Select-Object DisplayName, DisplayVersion' in PowerShell to enumerate installed programs and their versionsAffected if Any Esri product named ArcGIS Pro, ArcMap, ArcReader, or ArcGIS Engine appears in the list
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Identify ArcGIS Pro versionOpen ArcGIS Pro, click the Project tab, then click About ArcGIS Pro to view the full version number. Alternatively, check Add or Remove Programs for the installed versionAffected if The version is 2.7 or earlier (e.g., 2.7, 2.6, 2.5, etc.)
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Identify ArcMap or ArcReader versionOpen ArcMap or ArcReader, click Help > About ArcMap (or ArcReader) to view the version. Alternatively, check Add or Remove Programs for the installed versionAffected if The version is 10.8.1 or earlier (e.g., 10.8.1, 10.8, 10.7.1, etc.)
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Identify ArcGIS Engine versionCheck Add or Remove Programs for ArcGIS Engine installation, or check the registry key HKLM\SOFTWARE\ESRI\ArcGISEngine\10.x for the installed versionAffected if The version is 10.8.1 or earlier
You are affected if any of these Esri products are installed: ArcGIS Pro version 2.7 or earlier, or ArcMap/ArcReader/ArcGIS Engine version 10.8.1 or earlier
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 dataUpdate affected Esri products to version 10.8.2 or later for ArcGIS Desktop/Engine, and version 2.8 or later for ArcGIS Pro. Until patches are applied, avoid opening untrusted or unsolicited GIS files.
- Consultation4.0 h
- Implementation8.0 h
- Testing4.0 h
- Review / QA2.0 h
An estimate, not a bill — we confirm scope with you before any work starts. Need it this week? Rush from $5,120.
Scan for this in your stack
Free · runs locallyCheck whether your project pulls in CVE-2021-29097 — 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-2021-29097 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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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.
- 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