MicrostationApplication · Bentley

CVE-2021-46641

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 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 DGN file. Crafted data in a DNG file can trigger a read past the end of an allocated buffer. An attacker can leverage this vulnerability to execute code in the context of the current process. Was ZDI-CAN-15513.

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

An out-of-bounds read vulnerability exists in Bentley View's DGN file parser. Specifically, crafted data within a malicious DNG file triggers a read operation past the end of an allocated buffer, which an attacker can leverage to execute arbitrary code in the context of the current process.

MitigationApply the vendor patch when available. Until then, instruct users to avoid opening DGN/DNG files from untrusted sources, as user interaction (opening a malicious file) is required for exploitation.

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
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. Check if Bentley Microstation or View is installed
    Open Windows Control Panel > Programs and Features, or use PowerShell: Get-ItemProperty 'HKLM:\Software\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Uninstall\*' | Select-Object DisplayName, DisplayVersion | Where-Object {$_.DisplayName -match 'Bentley (Microstation|View)'}
    Affected if Either Bentley Microstation or Bentley View appears in the installed programs list
  2. Determine the exact installed version
    Open the application, go to Help > About, or check the version in the program's properties. The version number will be listed (e.g., 10.16.00, 10.16.01, etc.)
    Affected if The displayed version is lower than 10.16.02 (for example, 10.16.00 or 10.16.01)
  3. Verify the DGN/DNG file parsing capability is present
    Confirm the application can open DGN or DNG files by attempting to open a legitimate DGN/DNG file, or check file association settings for .dgn and .dng extensions
    Affected if The product is installed and the DGN/DNG file handler is available (this is a default capability in both Microstation and View)
  4. Confirm the vulnerability condition
    Compare your installed version number against the affected range: any version below 10.16.02 is vulnerable
    Affected if Your installed version is below 10.16.02 and you have the ability to open DGN/DNG files

You are affected if Bentley Microstation or View is installed with a version number lower than 10.16.02, as the out-of-bounds read in the DGN file parser will trigger when opening a malicious DGN/DNG file.

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 when available. Until then, instruct users to avoid opening DGN/DNG files from untrusted sources, as user interaction (opening a malicious file) is required for exploitation.

Recommended fix High confidence

10.16.02

  1. Obtain Bentley View or MicroStation version 10.16.02 from the official Bentley website or your organization's software distribution channel
  2. Uninstall the current vulnerable version of Bentley View or MicroStation
  3. Install version 10.16.02
  4. Verify the installation completed successfully and the software launches without errors

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

Fix this in Microstation Scoped from the published advisory
  • Consultation3.0 h
  • Implementation6.0 h
  • Testing5.0 h
  • Review / QA3.0 h
17.0 hours of engineering $2,970
Get the upgrade done

An estimate, not a bill — we confirm scope with you before any work starts. Need it this week? Rush from $4,752.

Scan for this in your stack

Free · runs locally
dbcve dependency scanner

Check whether your project pulls in CVE-2021-46641 — 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 sources

Practitioner notes

Contributed

Peer-ranked notes from engineers who’ve handled CVE-2021-46641 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