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MicrostationApplication · Bentley

CVE-2021-46587

HIGH · 7.8 CVSS v3.1 Published 2022-02-18
Fix available
A fix is available. Upgrade to 10.16.02 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
This vulnerability allows remote attackers to execute arbitrary code on affected installations of Bentley MicroStation CONNECT 10.16.0.80. 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 3DS 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-15381.

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 use-after-free or null pointer dereference vulnerability exists in Bentley MicroStation CONNECT 10.16.0.80 when parsing 3DS files. The parser fails to validate that an object exists before performing operations on it, allowing remote attackers to execute arbitrary code in the current process context via a malicious 3DS file.

MitigationApply vendor-supplied patches for MicroStation CONNECT when available; until then, refrain from opening untrusted 3DS files from unknown sources and consider running the application with reduced privileges.

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
MicrostationApplication
Affected:< 10.16.02
Microstation ConnectApplication
Affected:= 10.16.0.80
ViewApplication
Affected:< 10.16.02

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 Bentley product
    Check installed programs for Bentley MicroStation, Bentley MicroStation Connect, or Bentley View. Look in Add/Remove Programs (Windows) or check installation directory.
    Affected if Any of these three products is installed
  2. Check MicroStation version
    Open MicroStation, go to Help > About MicroStation, or check the version in Add/Remove Programs. Compare against 10.16.02.
    Affected if Version is less than 10.16.02 (for MicroStation)
  3. Check MicroStation Connect version
    Open MicroStation Connect, go to Help > About, or check the version in Add/Remove Programs. Exact version 10.16.0.80 is affected.
    Affected if Version equals 10.16.0.80
  4. Check Bentley View version
    Open Bentley View, go to Help > About, or check the version in Add/Remove Programs. Compare against 10.16.02.
    Affected if Version is less than 10.16.02 (for Bentley View)
  5. Determine 3DS file parsing exposure
    Check if the application has been used to open, import, or load 3DS files. Review recent file access logs or the application's recent files list for .3ds extensions.
    Affected if The affected product version is installed AND 3DS files have been opened or can be opened with this application

A user is affected if they have MicroStation (< 10.16.02), MicroStation Connect (= 10.16.0.80), or Bentley View (< 10.16.02) installed AND they open or have opened 3DS files with the vulnerable application.

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 10.16.02 or later
Fixed in 10.16.02
Interim mitigation

Apply vendor-supplied patches for MicroStation CONNECT when available; until then, refrain from opening untrusted 3DS files from unknown sources and consider running the application with reduced privileges.

Recommended fix Moderate confidence

MicroStation / MicroStation Connect / MicroStation View version 10.16.02 or later

  1. 1. Close any running instances of Bentley MicroStation, MicroStation Connect, or MicroStation View
  2. 2. Backup any critical design files and user settings
  3. 3. Download the latest Bentley MicroStation version 10.16.02 or later from the official Bentley website (www.bentley.com)
  4. 4. Run the installer with administrator privileges
  5. 5. Follow the on-screen installation prompts to complete the upgrade
  6. 6. Restart the application after installation completes
  7. 7. Verify the installed version matches or exceeds 10.16.02
Caveat Review Bentley's release notes for version 10.16.02 to check for any changes to file format support or feature modifications that may affect existing workflows

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

Fix this in Microstation Scoped from the published advisory
  • Consultation2.0 h
  • Implementation8.0 h
  • Testing6.0 h
  • Review / QA4.0 h
20.0 hours of engineering $3,460
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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-2021-46587 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