CVE-2024-21918
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 · uneditedA memory buffer vulnerability in Rockwell Automation Arena Simulation software could potentially allow a malicious user to insert unauthorized code to the software by corrupting the memory and triggering an access violation. Once inside, the threat actor can run harmful code on the system. This affects the confidentiality, integrity, and availability of the product. To trigger this, the user would unwittingly need to open a malicious file shared by the threat actor.
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 confidenceA memory buffer vulnerability in Rockwell Automation Arena Simulation software allows a malicious user to corrupt memory and trigger an access violation by tricking a user into opening a malicious file. Successful exploitation enables arbitrary code execution, impacting confidentiality, integrity, and availability.
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>= 16.00.00, < 16.20.03CVSS 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 checksWork through these to decide whether this CVE applies to you.
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Verify Arena Simulation software is installedCheck for Arena installation by looking in Program Files for 'Rockwell Automation\Arena' folder, or search for arena.exe on the systemAffected if Arena Simulation software is found on the system
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Determine installed Arena versionRight-click on arena.exe, select Properties, then look at the Details tab for Product Version. Alternatively, open Arena and check Help > About Arena Simulation SoftwareAffected if Unable to locate version information or Arena is not installed
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Compare version against affected rangeReview the identified version number - the affected range is versions 16.00.00 through 16.20.02 (any version >= 16.00.00 but < 16.20.03)Affected if Installed version is 16.00.00, 16.00.01, 16.10.x, 16.20.00, 16.20.01, or 16.20.02 (any version from 16.00.00 up to and including 16.20.02)
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Assess user file handling exposureDetermine if users can open .aren files or other files from external sources, email attachments, or untrusted network sharesAffected if Users have ability to open files from untrusted or external sources without restriction
System is affected if Rockwell Automation Arena version 16.00.00 through 16.20.02 is installed and users can open files from untrusted sources, as the vulnerability is triggered by opening a malicious file.
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 · scoped16.20.03
Apply the vendor patch from Rockwell Automation when available. Until then, enforce strict controls on file handling—disable opening of untrusted files, train users to reject files from untrusted sources, and consider network segmentation to limit exposure.
Arena 16.20.03 or later
- Identify the current installed version of Arena Simulation software
- Obtain Arena version 16.20.03 or later from Rockwell Automation or official distribution channels
- Back up all critical Arena simulation files, models, and configurations
- Uninstall the current vulnerable version of Arena
- Install the fixed version (16.20.03 or later)
- Verify the installation by checking the software version
- Exercise caution when opening files from untrusted sources to avoid triggering the vulnerability
Generated from the published advisory — verify against the referenced sources before acting.
- Consultation4.0 h
- Implementation2.0 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-2024-21918 — 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-2024-21918 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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- 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