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AutocadApplication · Autodesk

CVE-2021-40162

HIGH · 7.8 CVSS v3.1 Published 2022-10-07
Fix available
A fix is available. Upgrade to 2019.1.4 / 2020.1.5 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
A maliciously crafted TIF, PICT, TGA, or RLC files in Autodesk Image Processing component may be forced to read beyond allocated boundaries when parsing the TIFF, PICT, TGA, or RLC files. This vulnerability may be exploited to execute arbitrary code.

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 confidence

A heap-based buffer over-read vulnerability in Autodesk's Image Processing component allows specially crafted TIF, PICT, TGA, or RLC files to read beyond allocated memory boundaries during parsing, potentially enabling arbitrary code execution.

MitigationApply vendor-supplied security patches for affected Autodesk products; avoid opening untrusted image files from unknown sources until patches are deployed.

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
AutocadApplication
Affected:>= 2019, < 2019.1.4>= 2020, < 2020.1.5>= 2021, < 2021.1.2>= 2022, < 2022.1.2
Autocad Advance SteelApplication
Affected:>= 2019, < 2019.1.4>= 2020, < 2020.1.5>= 2021, < 2021.1.2>= 2022, < 2022.1.2
Autocad ArchitectureApplication
Affected:>= 2019, < 2019.1.4>= 2020, < 2020.1.5>= 2021, < 2021.1.2>= 2022, < 2022.1.2
Autocad Civil 3dApplication
Affected:>= 2019, < 2019.1.4>= 2020, < 2020.1.5>= 2021, < 2021.1.2>= 2022, < 2022.1.2
Autocad ElectricalApplication
Affected:>= 2019, < 2019.1.4>= 2020, < 2020.1.5>= 2021, < 2021.1.2>= 2022, < 2022.1.2
Autocad LtApplication
Affected:>= 2019, < 2019.1.4>= 2020, < 2020.1.5>= 2020, < 2020.3.2>= 2021, < 2021.1.2>= 2021, < 2021.2.2>= 2022, < 2022.1.2>= 2022, < 2022.2.2
Autocad Map 3dApplication
Affected:>= 2019, < 2019.1.4>= 2020, < 2020.1.5>= 2021, < 2021.1.2>= 2022, < 2022.1.2
Autocad MechanicalApplication
Affected:>= 2019, < 2019.1.4>= 2020, < 2020.1.5>= 2021, < 2021.1.2>= 2022, < 2022.1.2

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. Identify installed Autodesk product
    Open Autodesk's About dialog (type 'ABOUT' in command line) or check Programs and Features in Control Panel to see which Autodesk product is installed
    Affected if Any of these products: AutoCAD, AutoCAD Advance Steel, AutoCAD Architecture, AutoCAD Civil 3D, AutoCAD Electrical, AutoCAD LT, AutoCAD Map 3D, or AutoCAD Mechanical
  2. Determine installed version number
    In AutoCAD, type 'VER' or 'ABOUT' in the command line; for other products, check Help > About or the application's version information dialog
    Affected if The product version cannot be determined or is earlier than 2019
  3. Compare version against affected ranges
    Check if the installed version falls within: 2019.x (less than 2019.1.4), 2020.x (less than 2020.1.5), 2021.x (less than 2021.1.2), or 2022.x (less than 2022.1.2). Note: AutoCAD LT has additional affected ranges: 2020.3.x and 2021.2.x
    Affected if Installed version is within any of these ranges: >=2019 and <2019.1.4; >=2020 and <2020.1.5; >=2021 and <2021.1.2; >=2022 and <2022.1.2 (or the specific LT ranges)
  4. Confirm file parsing is possible
    The vulnerability is triggered when the Image Processing component parses specially crafted TIF, PICT, TGA, or RLC files. Determine if users can import or open these image file types in the installed product
    Affected if The product can open or import TIF, PICT, TGA, or RLC files and the version is within affected ranges

You are affected if you have any of the listed Autodesk products installed with a version between 2019 and the respective patch release (2019.1.4, 2020.1.5, 2021.1.2, or 2022.1.2) and users can open image files in your environment.

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.

dbcve · scoped
Upgrade available Upgrade to 2019.1.4 / 2020.1.5 / 2020.3.2 or later
Fixed in 2019.1.42020.1.52020.3.2
Interim mitigation

Apply vendor-supplied security patches for affected Autodesk products; avoid opening untrusted image files from unknown sources until patches are deployed.

Recommended fix High confidence

Upgrade to the minimum fixed version for your product line: AutoCAD 2019.1.4+, 2020.1.5+ (or 2020.3.2 for LT), 2021.1.2+, or 2022.1.2+

  1. 1. Identify the specific Autodesk product (e.g., AutoCAD, AutoCAD Civil 3D, etc.) and current version installed
  2. 2. Open a web browser and navigate to the Autodesk Account portal at accounts.autodesk.com
  3. 3. Sign in with your Autodesk account credentials
  4. 4. Go to the 'Products and Services' or 'Downloads' section
  5. 5. Locate your affected Autodesk product and select the appropriate version (2019, 2020, 2021, or 2022)
  6. 6. Download the update or hotfix. For versions 2019, look for version 2019.1.4 or later. For version 2020, look for 2020.1.5 or later (2020.3.2 for LT). For version 2021, look for 2021.1.2 or later. For version 2022, look for 2022.1.2 or later
  7. 7. Close any running instances of the Autodesk application
  8. 8. Run the installer and follow the on-screen prompts to install the update
Caveat Users should back up custom settings and templates before upgrading; major version upgrades may require file format migration

Generated from the published advisory — verify against the referenced sources before acting.

Fix this in Autocad Scoped from the published advisory
  • Consultation2.0 h
  • Implementation4.0 h
  • Testing2.0 h
  • Review / QA1.0 h
9.0 hours of engineering $1,600
Get the upgrade done

An estimate, not a bill — we confirm scope with you before any work starts. Need it this week? Rush from $2,560.

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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-2021-40162 in production — separate from our analysis above.

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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