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MicrostationApplication · Bentley

CVE-2021-46623

MEDIUM · 5.5 CVSS v3.1 Published 2022-02-18
Fix available
A fix is available. Upgrade to 10.16.02 or later.
See remediation →
58/100
Remediation priority · Elevated
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 disclose sensitive information on affected installations of Bentley View 10.15.0.75. 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 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-15453.

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

This is an out-of-bounds read vulnerability in Bentley View's 3DS file parser. The lack of proper validation of user-supplied data during 3DS file parsing allows reading past the end of an allocated buffer, exposing sensitive information. While the direct impact is information disclosure, the advisory notes this can be chained with other vulnerabilities to achieve arbitrary code execution.

MitigationUpdate Bentley View to a version that addresses this vulnerability. Avoid opening untrusted or files from unknown sources until the patch is applied.

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
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
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 checks

Work through these to decide whether this CVE applies to you.

  1. Identify if Bentley View is installed
    Check for Bentley View application in the system program files or application directory, or look for the executable (typically named BentleyView.exe or similar)
    Affected if Bentley View is present on the system and its version is below 10.16.02
  2. Identify if Bentley Microstation is installed
    Check for Microstation installation (typically in Program Files/Bentley) and locate the main executable (MicroStation.exe)
    Affected if Bentley Microstation is present and its version is below 10.16.02
  3. Determine the installed version of Bentley View
    Right-click the Bentley View executable, select Properties, and check the File Version field in the Details tab, or run the application and look in Help > About
    Affected if The displayed version number is less than 10.16.02 (for example, 10.16.00, 10.15.x, etc.)
  4. Determine the installed version of Bentley Microstation
    Right-click the MicroStation executable, select Properties, and check the File Version field in the Details tab, or open Microstation and go to Help > About Bentley MicroStation
    Affected if The displayed version number is less than 10.16.02 (for example, 10.16.00, 10.15.x, etc.)
  5. Verify if the 3DS file parsing functionality is accessible
    Attempt to open a 3DS file in Bentley View or Microstation using File > Open and filter for .3ds file extension, or check if the application has 3DS import capabilities enabled
    Affected if The application can import or open 3DS files and the version is below 10.16.02

A user is affected if they have Bentley View or Bentley Microstation installed with a version number lower than 10.16.02 and the application can parse 3DS 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

Update Bentley View to a version that addresses this vulnerability. Avoid opening untrusted or files from unknown sources until the patch is applied.

Recommended fix High confidence

10.16.02 or later

  1. 1. Backup all important files and project data before upgrading
  2. 2. Download Bentley View or Microstation version 10.16.02 or later from the official Bentley website (www.bentley.com)
  3. 3. Uninstall the current vulnerable version (10.15.0.75 or any version < 10.16.02)
  4. 4. Install the fixed version 10.16.02 or later
  5. 5. Verify the installation was successful and the version number reflects the patched release

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

Fix this in Microstation Scoped from the published advisory
  • Consultation2.0 h
  • Testing2.0 h
  • Review / QA1.0 h
5.0 hours of engineering $880
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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-2021-46623 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