ArenaApplication · Rockwellautomation

CVE-2023-29460

CRITICAL · 9.8 CVSS v3.1 Published 2023-05-09
Mitigation only
No fix yet — a mitigation exists. There is no fixed release. A documented workaround reduces exposure in the meantime.
See remediation →
100/100
Remediation priority · Urgent
Remotely reachable No privileges Zero-click

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
An arbitrary code execution vulnerability contained in Rockwell Automation's Arena Simulation software was reported that could potentially allow a malicious user to commit unauthorized arbitrary code to the software by using a memory buffer overflow potentially resulting in a complete loss of confidentiality, integrity, and availability.

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 · moderate confidence

A critical arbitrary code execution vulnerability exists in Rockwell Automation's Arena Simulation software due to a memory buffer overflow. This vulnerability could allow a malicious user to execute unauthorized arbitrary code, potentially resulting in complete compromise of the software's confidentiality, integrity, and availability.

MitigationApply vendor-supplied patches or updates for Arena Simulation software as soon as they become available, and implement network segmentation to limit exposure until the patch can be deployed.

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
ArenaApplication
Affected:= 16.00.00= 16.20.00

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
Network
Complexity
Low
Privileges
None
User interaction
None
Scope
Unchanged
Confidentiality
High
Integrity
High
Availability
High

CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:L/PR:N/UI:N/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 Arena Simulation version
    Open the Arena application and navigate to Help > About, or check Add or Remove Programs / Programs and Features in Windows Control Panel for the installed version
    Affected if The version listed is exactly 16.00.00 or 16.20.00
  2. Verify Arena executable version via file properties
    Locate the Arena executable (typically arena.exe in the installation directory, commonly C:\Program Files\Rockwell Automation\Arena or similar), right-click and select Properties > Details to view the File Version
    Affected if The file version shows 16.00.00 or 16.20.00
  3. Check if Arena process is running
    Open Task Manager or use command 'tasklist | findstr arena' to see if the Arena process is currently active
    Affected if Arena.exe process is running on a system with version 16.00.00 or 16.20.00

The environment is affected only if the installed Arena Simulation software version is exactly 16.00.00 or exactly 16.20.00.

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.

From vendor data
Mitigation available No clean upgrade yet — mitigate in the meantime
Mitigation

Apply vendor-supplied patches or updates for Arena Simulation software as soon as they become available, and implement network segmentation to limit exposure until the patch can be deployed.

Fix this in Arena Scoped from the published advisory
  • Consultation6.0 h
  • Implementation16.0 h
  • Testing12.0 h
  • Review / QA6.0 h
40.0 hours of engineering $6,960
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Scan for this in your stack

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dbcve dependency scanner

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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-2023-29460 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