CVE-2021-46593
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 disclose sensitive information 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 DWG files. The issue results from the lack of proper validation of user-supplied data, which can result in a read past the end of an allocated buffer. An attacker can leverage this in conjunction with other vulnerabilities to execute arbitrary code in the context of the current process. Was ZDI-CAN-15387.
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 confidenceThis is an out-of-bounds read vulnerability in Bentley MicroStation CONNECT's DWG file parser. The lack of proper validation of user-supplied data during DWG parsing allows reading past the end of an allocated buffer, exposing sensitive memory contents. Exploitation requires user interaction (opening a malicious DWG file) and can be chained with other vulnerabilities for code execution.
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= 10.16.0.80< 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
- None
- Availability
- None
CVSS:3.1/AV:L/AC:L/PR:N/UI:R/S:U/C:H/I:N/A:N
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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Identify installed Bentley productCheck Programs and Features or the application's About dialog to determine if Bentley MicroStation, MicroStation Connect, or Bentley View is installedAffected if Any of these three products are installed
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Determine installed version numberOpen the Bentley application, go to Help > About, or check the program's version property in Windows Explorer to find the exact version stringAffected if Version cannot be determined or is unknown
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Compare version against affected rangesFor MicroStation or View: check if version is less than 10.16.02. For MicroStation Connect: check if version equals 10.16.0.80 exactlyAffected if MicroStation/View version < 10.16.02 OR MicroStation Connect version = 10.16.0.80
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Confirm DWG file handling capabilityVerify the application can open or parse DWG files - check if DWG import/export or viewing features are present and enabledAffected if DWG parsing capability exists and is enabled in the installation
If a vulnerable Bentley product (MicroStation, MicroStation Connect, or View) with an affected version is installed, and DWG file parsing features are available, the environment is potentially affected by this vulnerability.
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
Users should avoid opening untrusted DWG files and only open files from trusted sources. Apply vendor-supplied patches when available.
10.16.02
- Upgrade MicroStation to version 10.16.02 or later
- Upgrade MicroStation Connect to version 10.16.02 or later
- Upgrade MicroStation View to version 10.16.02 or later
- Verify the upgrade by checking Help > About MicroStation to confirm the version number
- Exercise caution when opening DWG files from untrusted sources until all systems are patched
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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Free · runs locallyCheck whether your project pulls in CVE-2021-46593 — 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-2021-46593 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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