Use After FreeWeakness · CWE-416

CVE-2025-6972

HIGH · 7.8 CVSS v3.1 Published 2025-07-15
Mitigation only
No fix yet — a mitigation exists. There is no fixed release. A documented workaround reduces exposure in the meantime.
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
Use After Free vulnerability exists in the CATPRODUCT file reading procedure in SOLIDWORKS eDrawings on Release SOLIDWORKS Desktop 2025. This vulnerability could allow an attacker to execute arbitrary code while opening a specially crafted CATPRODUCT file.

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

A Use After Free vulnerability exists in the CATPRODUCT file parsing routine of SOLIDWORKS eDrawings 2025. When opening a specially crafted CATPRODUCT file, the software frees memory but subsequently attempts to access the freed pointer, leading to arbitrary code execution. The attack requires user interaction to open the malicious file.

MitigationDo not open CATPRODUCT files from untrusted sources. Wait for and apply the vendor-supplied patch from SOLIDWORKS. Consider network isolation or additional sandboxing for eDrawings until the patch is available.

Verify against the referenced sources before acting — the references below are authoritative for this CVE, this summary is not.

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. Verify eDrawings 2025 is installed
    Check the Windows registry under HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Uninstall or look in C:\Program Files\SOLIDWORKS eDrawings for the eDrawings.exe executable
    Affected if eDrawings 2025 is found on the system
  2. Confirm the exact eDrawings version
    Right-click eDrawings.exe, select Properties, and check the File Version field under the Details tab. Alternatively, run eDrawings and go to Help > About eDrawings
    Affected if The version is any release of eDrawings 2025 (check if version starts with 2025)
  3. Check for CATPRODUCT file type associations
    Open Default Programs or view HKEY_CLASSES_ROOT\.CATPRODUCT in the registry to see if eDrawings is registered to handle CATPRODUCT files
    Affected if eDrawings is registered as the handler for .CATPRODUCT files
  4. Inspect recent file access events
    Open Windows Event Viewer > Security and filter by Event ID 4656 or use PowerShell to search for recent accesses to .CATPRODUCT files in the user's Recent folder
    Affected if There are recent .CATPRODUCT files opened by eDrawings on this system
  5. Review application crash logs
    Check the eDrawings crash dump folder (typically %APPDATA%\SOLIDWORKS eDrawings\CrashDumps or Windows Problem Reports) for any recent crashes related to CATPRODUCT parsing
    Affected if Recent crashes occurred when opening CATPRODUCT files

The system is affected if eDrawings 2025 is installed, handles .CATPRODUCT files, and those files have been opened recently.

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

Do not open CATPRODUCT files from untrusted sources. Wait for and apply the vendor-supplied patch from SOLIDWORKS. Consider network isolation or additional sandboxing for eDrawings until the patch is available.

Have this fixed Scoped from the published advisory
  • Consultation3.0 h
  • Implementation4.0 h
  • Testing3.0 h
  • Review / QA2.0 h
12.0 hours of engineering $2,130
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Scan for this in your stack

Free · runs locally
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-2025-6972 in production — separate from our analysis above.

No notes yet

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What this is

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What belongs here
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  • Version or environment caveats, and links to real fixes
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