Advisory Details

This vulnerability allows remote attackers to execute arbitrary code on affected installations of Ansys SpaceClaim. User interaction is required to exploit this vulnerability in that the target must visit a malicious page or open a malicious file.

The specific flaw exists within the parsing of SKP files. The issue results from the lack of validating the existence of an object prior to performing operations on the object. An attacker can leverage this vulnerability to execute code in the context of the current process.

05/30/22 – ZDI reported the vulnerability to the vendor.

05/31/22 – Vendor Support acknowledged the vulnerability report but requested a customer number for this to be addressed.

06/01/22 – ZDI informed the vendor that the vulnerability report is for them to test and validate so they can develop a patch.

06/07/22 – Ansys sales reached out but could not assist with a substantive acknowledgment of the vulnerability report.

07/26/22 – ZDI reached out asking for an update.

07/26/22 – Ansys Support asked if the vulnerability report was support related.

07/26/22 – ZDI explained that the report is regarding vulnerabilities in SpaceClaim.

07/26/22 – Ansys Support asked what the reports were for and if we were reporting vulnerabilities in SpaceClaim.

07/26/22 – ZDI confirmed that the reports were for SpaceClaim and that they were originally acknowledged on 5/30/22

07/26/22 – Ansys Support forwarded the vulnerability report to sales, and they asked us if we had worked with an Ansys sales or channel partner representative.

07/26/22 – ZDI informed Ansys that we are a research organization reporting vulnerabilities in Ansys SpaceClaim.

07/26/22 – Ansys sales informed us that they do not have a need for our services.

07/27/22 – ZDI contacted the Ansys VP of Cybersecurity about the report.

07/27/22 – Ansys VP of Cybersecurity acknowledged the report and that they would get back to us.

08/03/22 – ZDI reached out asking for an update.

08/24/22 – ZDI notified the vendor of the intention to publish the case as a zero-day advisory on 09/13/22.

-- Mitigation:
Given the nature of the vulnerability, the only salient mitigation strategy is to restrict interaction with the application.

• 2022-05-30 - Vulnerability reported to vendor
• 2022-09-14 - Coordinated public release of advisory