CVE-2021-46651
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 · uneditedThis vulnerability allows remote attackers to disclose sensitive information 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 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-15537.
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 confidenceOut-of-bounds read vulnerability in Bentley MicroStation CONNECT 10.16.0.80 DGN file parser. Due to insufficient validation of user-supplied data during DGN file parsing, an attacker can read past the end of an allocated buffer, potentially disclosing sensitive information. Requires user interaction (opening malicious DGN file) and can be chained with other vulnerabilities for code execution.
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< 10.16.02< 10.16.0.80< 10.16.02CVSS 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 checksWork through these to decide whether this CVE applies to you.
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Identify installed Bentley productCheck Programs and Features or the application itself to determine if Bentley MicroStation, MicroStation Connect, or Bentley View is installedAffected if Any of these three products is installed
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Determine installed versionOpen the Bentley application, go to Help > About, or check the version in Programs and Features. For MicroStation Connect, you can also run the application and check the splash screen or About dialogAffected if Version cannot be determined or is lower than the fixed releases
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Compare against affected version rangesFor MicroStation: check if version < 10.16.02. For MicroStation Connect: check if version < 10.16.0.80. For Bentley View: check if version < 10.16.02Affected if Installed version falls below these thresholds in the respective product line
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Assess DGN file exposureNote that this vulnerability triggers when parsing malicious DGN files - determine if the system opens DGN files from untrusted sourcesAffected if Users open DGN files from unknown or untrusted sources without verification
You are affected if you have MicroStation, MicroStation Connect, or Bentley View installed with a version below 10.16.02 (or 10.16.0.80 for Connect) and your users open DGN files.
Generated from the published advisory. Verify against your own configuration.
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 · scoped10.16.0.8010.16.02
Apply vendor patches when available. Until then, users should avoid opening untrusted DGN files from unknown sources.
MicroStation 10.16.02 / MicroStation Connect 10.16.0.80 / View 10.16.02
- 1. Identify the installed Bentley MicroStation product (MicroStation, MicroStation Connect, or View) and current version
- 2. For MicroStation: Upgrade to version 10.16.02 or later
- 3. For MicroStation Connect: Upgrade to version 10.16.0.80 or later
- 4. For View: Upgrade to version 10.16.02 or later
- 5. Verify the upgrade was successful by checking the application version information
- 6. As a temporary mitigation, avoid opening untrusted DGN files from unknown or untrusted sources
Generated from the published advisory — verify against the referenced sources before acting.
- Consultation2.0 h
- Implementation8.0 h
- Testing4.0 h
- Review / QA2.0 h
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Scan for this in your stack
Free · runs locallyCheck whether your project pulls in CVE-2021-46651 — 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 sourcesPractitioner notes
ContributedPeer-ranked notes from engineers who’ve handled CVE-2021-46651 in production — separate from our analysis above.
The advisory tells you what broke. It rarely tells you what actually worked. If you’ve dealt with this one, that detail is what the next engineer is searching for.
- The version that genuinely resolved it — not the one the vendor claimed
- A config change or rule that shut the vector down
- A gotcha in the upgrade path that cost you an afternoon
No notes yet
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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.
- 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
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