Security readout for executives and security teams
Plain-English summary
This CVE affects Siemens Simcenter Femap V2020.2 and V2021.1 when handling modfem files. A specially crafted file could make the application read beyond intended memory and expose information from the running process. The main business risk is data exposure on engineering workstations that open untrusted files.
Executive priority
Treat this as a moderate, targeted workstation risk. It is not currently evidenced as exploited, but affected engineering environments should reduce untrusted file exposure and follow Siemens remediation guidance.
Technical view
femap.exe does not properly validate user-supplied data while parsing modfem files, causing an out-of-bounds read past an allocated buffer. The reported impact is information disclosure in the context of the current process. The issue is classified as CWE-125 and tracked by ZDI as ZDI-CAN-14260.
Likely exposure
Exposure is limited to organizations running Simcenter Femap V2020.2 or V2021.1, especially teams that receive or open modfem files from external parties, shared repositories, or email.
Exploitation context
The bundle does not identify active exploitation, and the CVE is not listed as KEV. Based on the description, exploitation depends on the application parsing a malicious modfem file. No exploit reliability, public weaponization, or CVSS score is provided.
Researcher notes
Evidence is limited to CVE, Siemens, and ZDI references. No CVSS, patch version, or exploit status is included in the bundle. The key validation question is whether vulnerable Femap versions process externally supplied modfem files.
Mitigation direction
- Check Siemens advisory SSA-997732 for vendor-approved updates or mitigations.
- Restrict opening modfem files from untrusted or unverified sources.
- Prioritize affected engineering workstations handling external project files.
- Use endpoint and email controls to flag unexpected modfem attachments.
- Train Femap users to verify file provenance before opening.
Validation and detection
- Inventory Simcenter Femap V2020.2 and V2021.1 installations.
- Confirm whether affected users exchange modfem files externally.
- Review controls for modfem files in email and file-sharing paths.
- Check Siemens guidance for fixed versions or compensating controls.
- Document any systems that cannot be promptly updated.
Public sources used
Generated from the cited source records. This long-tail analysis has not been individually reviewed by a named human.
Conservative CVE-to-ATT&CK context
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ATT&CK lookup starting points
Use these exact CWE pages and searches to review the Glexia ATT&CK library from this CVE's weakness and description context.
CWE-125: Exact CWE lookup
Use the exact CWE identifier as the starting point before reviewing related ATT&CK behavior. Open the exact CWE lookup page first, then review the ATT&CK searches from that MITRE weakness context. This is a Glexia lookup hint, not an official ATT&CK mapping.
Open ATT&CK lookupCVE-2021-37176 mapping review
Open the CVE-to-ATT&CK bridge for reviewed, inferred, or future official mappings tied to this CVE.
Open ATT&CK lookup- Severity
- Unknown
- CVSS
- Not scored
- Known Exploited
- No
- Published
CNA and ADP enrichment extracted from CVE v5
These fields come from the CVE record and ADP containers, not from Glexia's Take. They preserve time-varying source decisions such as CISA SSVC, KEV status, CVSS metrics, and provider references.
CVSS and timeline data
No CVSS vectors or timeline events were available in the normalized CVE source material.
Source materials
- CVE List V5 sourceCVE List V5
- https://cert-portal.siemens.com/productcert/pdf/ssa-997732.pdfCVE reference · x_refsource_MISC
- https://www.zerodayinitiative.com/advisories/ZDI-21-1073/CVE reference · x_refsource_MISC
Products and packages named in the record
CWE details
CWE links open Glexia weakness intelligence pages with official CWE context, developer remediation guidance, and related CVE mappings.