CVE-2021-34917
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 · uneditedThis vulnerability allows remote attackers to execute arbitrary code on affected installations of Bentley View 10.15.0.75. User interaction is required to exploit this vulnerability in that the target must visit a malicious page or open a malicious file. The specific flaw exists within the parsing of J2K files. The issue results from the lack of validating the existence of an object prior to performing operations on the object. An attacker can leverage this vulnerability to execute code in the context of the current process. Was ZDI-CAN-14895.
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 confidenceA use-after-free or null pointer dereference vulnerability exists in Bentley View's J2K (JPEG 2000) file parser. The parser fails to validate the existence of an object before performing operations on it, allowing remote attackers to execute arbitrary code via a specially crafted J2K file requiring user interaction (opening the 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< 10.16.02< 10.16.02CVSS 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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Check if Bentley View is installedLook for Bentley View in installed programs (Windows Control Panel > Programs and Features, or use 'Get-ItemProperty' in PowerShell for registry keys under HKLM:\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Uninstall\)Affected if Bentley View appears in the installed programs list
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Check if Microstation is installedLook for Bentley Microstation or MicroStation in installed programsAffected if Microstation appears in the installed programs list
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Determine installed version of Bentley ViewOpen Bentley View, go to Help > About, or check the program's executable properties (right-click the .exe file > Properties > Details tab) for the version numberAffected if Version is lower than 10.16.02 (for example, 10.15.x, 10.14.x, etc.)
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Determine installed version of MicrostationOpen Microstation, go to Help > About, or check the program's executable properties for the version numberAffected if Version is lower than 10.16.02
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Check for recent J2K file accessReview file access logs, email attachments, or download folders for recently opened .j2k or .jp2 files that originated from untrusted sourcesAffected if Users have opened J2K files from unknown or untrusted sources since the software was installed
A user is affected if they have Bentley View or Microstation installed with a version lower than 10.16.02 and have opened or could open a specially crafted J2K file.
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.
dbcve · scoped10.16.02
Apply vendor-supplied patch for Bentley View 10.15.0.75. Until patch is available, restrict user ability to open untrusted J2K files from unknown sources and consider file type restrictions at the enterprise perimeter.
10.16.02
- 1. Identify the current version of Bentley View or MicroStation installed on the system
- 2. Navigate to the official Bentley support website (www.bentley.com) to obtain the fixed version
- 3. Download Bentley View or MicroStation version 10.16.02 or later
- 4. Create a backup of any critical project files and settings
- 5. Uninstall the current vulnerable version or use the update mechanism to install version 10.16.02
- 6. Verify the installation was successful and confirm the version number shows 10.16.02 or higher
Generated from the published advisory — verify against the referenced sources before acting.
- Consultation3.0 h
- Implementation8.0 h
- Testing4.0 h
- Review / QA3.0 h
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Scan for this in your stack
Free · runs locallyCheck whether your project pulls in CVE-2021-34917 — 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-2021-34917 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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