CVE-2021-21459 – CVE-2021-21459 is a memory corruption vulnerabi... (How to Fix)

Q: What is the severity of CVE-2021-21459?

CVE-2021-21459 has a CVSS score of 8.8 (HIGH). CVE-2021-21459 is a memory corruption vulnerability in SAP 3D Visual Enterprise Viewer version 9 caused by improper input validation when processing IFF files. Attackers can craft malicious IFF files that crash the application when opened, causing temporary denial of service. Users who open IFF files from untrusted sources are affected.

📋 TL;DR

CVE-2021-21459 is a memory corruption vulnerability in SAP 3D Visual Enterprise Viewer version 9 caused by improper input validation when processing IFF files. Attackers can craft malicious IFF files that crash the application when opened, causing temporary denial of service. Users who open IFF files from untrusted sources are affected.

💻 Affected Systems

Products:

SAP 3D Visual Enterprise Viewer

Versions: Version 9

Operating Systems: Windows, Linux, macOS

Default Config Vulnerable: ⚠️ Yes

Notes: All installations of version 9 are vulnerable when processing IFF files.

📦 What is this software?

3d Visual Enterprise Viewer by Sap

View all CVEs affecting 3d Visual Enterprise Viewer →

⚠️ Risk & Real-World Impact

🔴

Worst Case

Remote code execution leading to complete system compromise if memory corruption can be weaponized beyond denial of service.

🟠

Likely Case

Application crash and temporary denial of service requiring manual restart of the SAP 3D Visual Enterprise Viewer.

🟢

If Mitigated

No impact if users only open trusted IFF files or the application is patched.

🌐 Internet-Facing: MEDIUM - Requires user interaction to open malicious file, but could be delivered via email or web downloads.

🏢 Internal Only: MEDIUM - Similar risk internally if users open untrusted files, but attack surface is more limited.

🎯 Exploit Status

Public PoC: ✅ No

Weaponized: UNKNOWN

Unauthenticated Exploit: ✅ No

Complexity: MEDIUM

Exploitation requires user interaction to open malicious IFF file. No public exploit code is known.

🛠️ Fix & Mitigation

✅ Official Fix

Patch Version: Apply SAP Note 3002617

Vendor Advisory: https://launchpad.support.sap.com/#/notes/3002617

Restart Required: Yes

Instructions:

1. Download patch from SAP Note 3002617. 2. Apply patch to SAP 3D Visual Enterprise Viewer installation. 3. Restart the application.

🔧 Temporary Workarounds

Restrict IFF file processing

all

Configure application to block or warn on IFF file processing

User education

all

Train users not to open IFF files from untrusted sources

🧯 If You Can't Patch

Implement application whitelisting to prevent execution of unpatched SAP 3D Visual Enterprise Viewer
Use email/web filtering to block IFF file attachments from untrusted sources

🔍 How to Verify

Check if Vulnerable:

Check if SAP 3D Visual Enterprise Viewer version 9 is installed without SAP Note 3002617 applied.

Check Version:

Check application version in Help > About menu (GUI) or consult installation logs.

Verify Fix Applied:

Verify SAP Note 3002617 is applied in application about/help menu or version information.

📡 Detection & Monitoring

Log Indicators:

Application crash logs mentioning IFF file processing
Unexpected termination of SAP 3D Visual Enterprise Viewer

Network Indicators:

Downloads of IFF files followed by application crashes

SIEM Query:

EventID: 1000 Application Error for SAP 3D Visual Enterprise Viewer OR file extension:.iff download events

📊 Metadata

CVE ID: CVE-2021-21459

CVSS v3 Score: 8.8 (HIGH)

CVSS Vector: CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:L/PR:N/UI:R/S:U/C:H/I:H/A:H

CWE: CWE-787

Published: January 12, 2021

Last Updated: November 21, 2024

🔗 References

https://launchpad.support.sap.com/#/notes/3002617 Permissions Required
https://wiki.scn.sap.com/wiki/pages/viewpage.action?pageId=564760476 Vendor Advisory
https://launchpad.support.sap.com/#/notes/3002617 Permissions Required
https://wiki.scn.sap.com/wiki/pages/viewpage.action?pageId=564760476 Vendor Advisory

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🔗 Related Vulnerabilities

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