Siemens Simcenter Femap

1. EXECUTIVE SUMMARY

• CVSS v3 7.8
• ATTENTION: Low attack complexity
• Vendor: Siemens
• Equipment: Simcenter Femap
• Vulnerabilities: Out-of-bounds Write, Stack-based Buffer Overflow

2. RISK EVALUATION

Successful exploitation of these vulnerabilities could allow an attacker to leverage the vulnerabilities to leak information or perform remote code execution in the context of the current process.

3. TECHNICAL DETAILS

3.1 AFFECTED PRODUCTS

Siemens reports these vulnerabilities affect the following Simcenter Femap simulation applications: 

• Simcenter Femap: All versions prior to v2022.1

3.2 VULNERABILITY OVERVIEW

3.2.1    OUT-OF-BOUNDS WRITE CWE-787

The affected application contains an out-of-bounds write past the end of an allocated structure while parsing specially crafted NEU files. This could allow an attacker to execute code in the context of the current process.

CVE-2021-46162 has been assigned to this vulnerability. A CVSS v3 base score of 7.8 has been calculated; the CVSS vector string is (AV:L/AC:L/PR:N/UI:R/S:U/C:H/I:H/A:H).

3.2.2    STACK-BASED BUFFER OVERFLOW CWE-121

The affected application contains a stack-based buffer overflow vulnerability while parsing specially crafted BDF files. This could allow an attacker to execute code in the context of the current process.

CVE-2021-46699 has been assigned to this vulnerability. A CVSS v3 base score of 7.8 has been calculated; the CVSS vector string is (AV:L/AC:L/PR:N/UI:R/S:U/C:H/I:H/A:H).

3.3 BACKGROUND

• CRITICAL INFRASTRUCTURE SECTORS: Critical Manufacturing
• COUNTRIES/AREAS DEPLOYED: Worldwide
• COMPANY HEADQUARTERS LOCATION: Germany

3.4 RESEARCHER

Trend Micro’s Zero Day Initiative reported these vulnerabilities to Siemens.

4. MITIGATIONS

Siemens recommends updating to the latest version line (v2022.1.1 or later version) of Simcenter Femap and avoid opening untrusted files from unknown sources.

As a general security measure, Siemens strongly recommends protecting network access to devices with appropriate mechanisms. In order to operate the devices in a protected IT environment, Siemens recommends configuring the environment according to Siemens' operational guidelines for industrial security, and to follow the recommendations in the product manuals.

Additional information on Industrial Security by Siemens can be found at: https://www.siemens.com/industrialsecurity

For more information about this issue, please see Siemens’ security advisory SSA-949188

CISA recommends users take defensive measures to minimize the risk of exploitation of these vulnerabilities. Specifically, users should protect themselves from social engineering attacks:

• Do not click web links or open unsolicited attachments in email messages.
• Refer to Recognizing and Avoiding Email Scams for more information on avoiding email scams.
• Refer to Avoiding Social Engineering and Phishing Attacks for more information on social engineering attacks.

CISA reminds organizations to perform proper impact analysis and risk assessment prior to deploying defensive measures.



CISA also provides a section for control systems security recommended practices on the ICS webpage on cisa.gov. Several recommended practices are available for reading and download, including Improving Industrial Control Systems Cybersecurity with Defense-in-Depth Strategies.

Additional mitigation guidance and recommended practices are publicly available on the ICS webpage on cisa.gov in the Technical Information Paper, ICS-TIP-12-146-01B--Targeted Cyber Intrusion Detection and Mitigation Strategies.



Organizations observing any suspected malicious activity should follow their established internal procedures and report their findings to CISA for tracking and correlation against other incidents.

No known public exploits specifically target these vulnerabilities. These vulnerabilities are not exploitable remotely. 

• Siemens