dbcve.org
MicrostationApplication · Bentley

CVE-2021-46603

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 J2K images. The issue results from the lack of proper validation of the length of user-supplied data prior to copying it to a heap-based buffer. An attacker can leverage this vulnerability to execute code in the context of the current process. Was ZDI-CAN-15397.

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

Heap buffer overflow vulnerability in Bentley MicroStation CONNECT's J2K image parser. The flaw results from insufficient validation of user-supplied data length before copying to a heap-based buffer during image parsing, allowing arbitrary code execution in the current process context.

MitigationApply vendor-supplied patch for MicroStation CONNECT; until then, avoid opening untrusted J2K files and run the application with least privilege to limit impact.

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
    Open the application and go to Help > About Bentley MicroStation, or check the executable (MicroStation.exe or BentleyView.exe) right-click properties and look at the File Version
    Affected if The product is Bentley MicroStation, MicroStation Connect, or Bentley View and the version is below the fixed releases
  2. Check MicroStation version
    In the About dialog, note the exact version number displayed (e.g., 10.16.00.xx)
    Affected if Version is 10.16.02 or lower for standalone MicroStation
  3. Check MicroStation Connect version
    In the About dialog, note the exact version number (format is 10.16.0.xx)
    Affected if Version is 10.16.0.80 or lower for MicroStation Connect
  4. Check Bentley View version
    In the About dialog, note the exact version number displayed
    Affected if Version is 10.16.02 or lower for Bentley View
  5. Confirm J2K parsing is in use
    The vulnerability is triggered when the application parses a JPEG2000 (.j2k, .jp2) image file - no specific config check needed as this is a built-in parser
    Affected if The application can open and parse J2K image files, which is default behavior

You are affected if you have MicroStation (any version before 10.16.02), MicroStation Connect (version 10.16.0.80 or earlier), or Bentley View (version before 10.16.02) installed and use the application to open image files.

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 patch for MicroStation CONNECT; until then, avoid opening untrusted J2K files and run the application with least privilege to limit impact.

Recommended fix High confidence

Microstation/View: 10.16.02 or later; Microstation Connect: 10.16.0.80 or later

  1. 1. Identify the currently installed Bentley MicroStation product and version (Microstation, Microstation Connect, or View)
  2. 2. Obtain the fixed version from Bentley's official support channels or software update mechanism
  3. 3. For Microstation: upgrade to version 10.16.02 or later
  4. 4. For Microstation Connect: upgrade to version 10.16.0.80 or later
  5. 5. For View: upgrade to version 10.16.02 or later
  6. 6. After upgrade, verify the version by checking About/Bentley MicroStation in the application
  7. 7. Test critical workflows that involve J2K image parsing to ensure functionality is maintained
Caveat Standard upgrade considerations apply: review release notes for configuration changes, verify third-party plugins/extensions compatibility, and test custom workflows

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

Fix this in Microstation Scoped from the published advisory
  • Consultation4.0 h
  • Implementation8.0 h
  • Testing4.0 h
  • Review / QA4.0 h
20.0 hours of engineering $3,560
Get the upgrade done

An estimate, not a bill — we confirm scope with you before any work starts. Need it this week? Rush from $5,696.

Scan for this in your stack

Free · runs locally
dbcve dependency scanner

Check whether your project pulls in CVE-2021-46603 — or any other known-vulnerable package — straight from your lock files. Free and open source; it runs locally and uploads nothing.

Get it on GitHub Scan in the browser

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-2021-46603 in production — separate from our analysis above.

No notes yet

Be the first to add a field note for this CVE — a mitigation you’ve verified, a version caveat, or a link to a working fix. Sign in above to contribute.

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