Webaccess\/hmi DesignerApplication · Advantech

CVE-2021-33000

HIGH · 7.8 CVSS v3.1 Published 2021-06-24
Fix available
A fix is available. Upgrade to after 2.1.9.95 or later.
See remediation →
81/100
Remediation priority · High
No privileges

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
Parsing a maliciously crafted project file may cause a heap-based buffer overflow, which may allow an attacker to perform arbitrary code execution. User interaction is required on the WebAccess HMI Designer (versions 2.1.9.95 and prior).

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

A heap-based buffer overflow vulnerability exists in WebAccess HMI Designer when parsing maliciously crafted project files. The overflow can be exploited to achieve arbitrary code execution, requiring user interaction to open the crafted file.

MitigationUpgrade WebAccess HMI Designer to a version newer than 2.1.9.95. Until patched, avoid opening project files from untrusted sources and implement network segmentation for HMI systems.

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:<= 2.1.9.95

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
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 checks

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

  1. Verify WebAccess HMI Designer is installed
    Check for the presence of WebAccess HMI Designer on the system - look for the application in Program Files or verify via system inventory tools
    Affected if The software is installed on the system
  2. Determine installed version of WebAccess HMI Designer
    Open the application and navigate to Help > About, or check the executable properties of the main program file (typically named something like HmiDesigner.exe)
    Affected if Unable to determine version or version is <= 2.1.9.95
  3. Confirm project file handling is possible
    Verify the software can open project files - the vulnerability triggers when parsing crafted project files, so the file parsing functionality must be accessible
    Affected if The software can open and parse project files from any source
  4. Identify if recent project files from untrusted sources were opened
    Review recent file access logs or the application's recent files list to see if potentially untrusted .apj or project files were opened
    Affected if Project files from untrusted or unknown sources were opened recently

The system is affected if WebAccess HMI Designer version 2.1.9.95 or lower is installed and the software has been used to open project files, particularly from untrusted sources.

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
Upgrade available Upgrade to a release after 2.1.9.95
Interim mitigation

Upgrade WebAccess HMI Designer to a version newer than 2.1.9.95. Until patched, avoid opening project files from untrusted sources and implement network segmentation for HMI systems.

Fix this in Webaccess\/hmi Designer Scoped from the published advisory
  • Consultation4.0 h
  • Implementation2.0 h
  • Testing6.0 h
  • Review / QA3.0 h
15.0 hours of engineering $2,600
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Scan for this in your stack

Free · runs locally
dbcve dependency scanner

Check whether your project pulls in CVE-2021-33000 — 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 sources

Practitioner notes

Contributed

Peer-ranked notes from engineers who’ve handled CVE-2021-33000 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