CVE-2021-43280
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 · uneditedA stack-based buffer overflow vulnerability exists in the DWF file reading procedure in Open Design Alliance Drawings SDK before 2022.8. The issue results from the lack of proper validation of the length of user-supplied data before copying it to a stack-based buffer. An attacker can leverage this vulnerability to execute code in the context of the current process.
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 stack-based buffer overflow vulnerability exists in the DWF file parsing component of Open Design Alliance Drawings SDK versions prior to 2022.8. The vulnerability stems from insufficient validation of user-supplied data length before copying to a stack-allocated buffer, allowing an attacker to overwrite return addresses and execute arbitrary code within the current process context.
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< 2022.8CVSS 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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Locate the ODA Drawings SDK installationSearch for files named 'DwfParser.dll', 'ODA Drawings SDK', or 'opendesign' in common installation directories such as C:\Program Files\Open Design Alliance\ or C:\Program Files (x86)\Open Design Alliance\, or check the application vendor's documentation for the SDK path.Affected if The SDK is found in the system and its version is less than 2022.8
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Identify the exact SDK version numberOpen the SDK's about dialog, version info resource, or readme file. The version is often displayed in the DLL properties (right-click the file, select Properties, then Details) or in a version.txt/readme.txt file within the SDK folder.Affected if The displayed version is any version prior to 2022.8 (for example, 2022.7, 2022.6, 2021.x, or older)
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Confirm the DWF parsing component is present and in useVerify that the DWF parser DLL (typically named DwfParser.dll or similar) exists in the SDK installation folder. Check if any application on the system uses this SDK to process DWF files by reviewing application dependencies or logs.Affected if The DWF parser component exists and is loaded by any application that opens DWF files, combined with an SDK version below 2022.8
A user is affected if the Open Design Alliance Drawings SDK version is below 2022.8 and any application on the system uses the SDK to parse DWF files.
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 · scoped2022.8
Upgrade Drawings SDK to version 2022.8 or later which contains the vendor fix. Until patched, avoid opening untrusted or unknown DWF files in applications using this SDK.
Drawings SDK 2022.8 or later
- Identify the current version of Open Design Alliance Drawings SDK in use
- Download Drawings SDK version 2022.8 or later from the official Open Design Alliance website (www.opendesign.com)
- Apply the update by following the vendor's standard installation or upgrade procedure
- Verify the installed version is 2022.8 or later
Generated from the published advisory — verify against the referenced sources before acting.
- Consultation4.0 h
- Implementation8.0 h
- Testing8.0 h
- Review / QA4.0 h
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Free · runs locallyCheck whether your project pulls in CVE-2021-43280 — 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-2021-43280 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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- Version or environment caveats, and links to real fixes
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