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MicrostationApplication · Bentley

CVE-2021-46642

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 DGN 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-15514.

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 when parsing DGN files. The lack of proper validation of user-supplied data during DGN parsing allows an attacker to read past the end of an allocated buffer, exposing sensitive information. This vulnerability can be chained with other vulnerabilities to achieve arbitrary code execution.

MitigationAvoid opening untrusted or malicious DGN files in Bentley View. Apply vendor patches when available from Bentley Systems.

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. Verify Bentley software is installed
    Check system for installed Bentley Microstation or Bentley View applications. Look in Program Files for 'Bentley' folder, or use system inventory tools to detect Bentley applications.
    Affected if Bentley Microstation or Bentley View is present on the system
  2. Determine installed version of Bentley Microstation
    Open Microstation, go to Help > About Microstation, or check the program's file properties (right-click executable > Properties > Details). The version is typically displayed there.
    Affected if Version is lower than 10.16.02
  3. Determine installed version of Bentley View
    Open Bentley View, go to Help > About Bentley View, or check the program's file properties. The version is typically displayed there.
    Affected if Version is lower than 10.16.02
  4. Confirm DGN file handling is enabled
    Verify that the application can parse DGN files. This is a core file format capability in Microstation and View - check if DGN import/open functionality is available in the application.
    Affected if DGN file parsing capability is present in the installed software

If Bentley Microstation or Bentley View is installed with a version lower than 10.16.02 and DGN file parsing is enabled, the environment is affected by this vulnerability.

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

Avoid opening untrusted or malicious DGN files in Bentley View. Apply vendor patches when available from Bentley Systems.

Recommended fix High confidence

10.16.02 or later

  1. 1. Identify the installed Bentley product (MicroStation or Bentley View) and current version by opening the application and checking Help > About
  2. 2. Navigate to the official Bentley support website (www.bentley.com) and locate the downloads section for your product
  3. 3. Download version 10.16.02 or later of the affected product
  4. 4. Close all Bentley applications and any related processes
  5. 5. Run the installer and follow the on-screen prompts to apply the update
  6. 6. Restart the application after installation completes
  7. 7. Verify the version has been updated to 10.16.02 or later by checking Help > About
Caveat Review Bentley's release notes for version 10.16.02 for any configuration or workflow changes that may affect existing projects

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
  • Testing4.0 h
  • Review / QA2.0 h
15.0 hours of engineering $2,640
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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-2021-46642 in production — separate from our analysis above.

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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