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MicrostationApplication · Bentley

CVE-2021-46638

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 DGN files. The issue results from the lack of proper validation of the length of user-supplied data prior to copying it to a stack-based buffer. An attacker can leverage this vulnerability to execute code in the context of the current process. Was ZDI-CAN-15510.

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 stack-based buffer overflow vulnerability exists in Bentley MicroStation CONNECT when parsing DGN files. The DGN parser fails to validate the length of user-supplied data before copying it into a fixed-size stack buffer, allowing an attacker to overwrite stack memory and achieve arbitrary code execution through a specially crafted malicious DGN file.

MitigationApply the vendor patch from Bentley for MicroStation CONNECT. Until patched, advise users not to open untrusted DGN files from unknown sources.

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 Bentley MicroStation, go to Help > About MicroStation, or check Programs and Features in Control Panel for Bentley MicroStation Connect or Bentley View
    Affected if If the product is Bentley MicroStation, MicroStation Connect, or Bentley View with a version number visible
  2. Determine exact version number
    Note the full version string shown (for example, 10.16.00.51 or 10.16.02.00)
    Affected if Version cannot be determined or does not match the installed product naming
  3. Compare against affected versions for MicroStation
    If product is Bentley MicroStation (non-Connect), compare your version to 10.16.02 - you are affected if version is less than 10.16.02
    Affected if Version < 10.16.02
  4. Compare against affected versions for MicroStation Connect
    If product is Bentley MicroStation Connect, compare your version to 10.16.0.80 - you are affected if version is less than or equal to 10.16.0.80
    Affected if Version <= 10.16.0.80
  5. Compare against affected versions for Bentley View
    If product is Bentley View, compare your version to 10.16.02 - you are affected if version is less than 10.16.02
    Affected if Version < 10.16.02

You are affected if Bentley MicroStation, MicroStation Connect, or Bentley View is installed with a version that falls below the threshold (10.16.02 for MicroStation/View, or 10.16.0.80 for Connect).

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 the vendor patch from Bentley for MicroStation CONNECT. Until patched, advise users not to open untrusted DGN files from unknown sources.

Recommended fix High confidence

MicroStation 10.16.02+ / MicroStation Connect 10.16.0.81+ / Bentley View 10.16.02+

  1. 1. Identify the exact version of Bentley MicroStation or MicroStation Connect currently installed
  2. 2. For MicroStation (standalone): upgrade to version 10.16.02 or later
  3. 3. For MicroStation Connect: upgrade to version 10.16.0.81 or later
  4. 4. For Bentley View: upgrade to version 10.16.02 or later
  5. 5. After upgrading, verify the new version by checking Help > About MicroStation
  6. 6. Test that legitimate DGN files open correctly after the update
Caveat Minor - standard version upgrade with no major API changes expected for this patch release

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

Fix this in Microstation Scoped from the published advisory
  • Consultation4.0 h
  • Implementation16.0 h
  • Testing8.0 h
  • Review / QA4.0 h
32.0 hours of engineering $5,600
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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-2021-46638 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