CVE-2026-23720
Published: 10 February 2026
Summary
CVE-2026-23720 is a high-severity Out-of-bounds Read (CWE-125) vulnerability in Siemens Simcenter Femap. Its CVSS base score is 7.8 (High).
Operationally, exploitation aligns with the MITRE ATT&CK technique Exploitation for Client Execution (T1203); ranked at the 0.6th percentile by exploit likelihood (below the median); it is not currently listed in the CISA KEV catalog.
The strongest mitigations our analysis identified are NIST 800-53 SI-2 (Flaw Remediation) and SI-10 (Information Input Validation).
Threat & Defense at a Glance
Threat & Defense Details
Mitigating Controls (NIST 800-53 r5)AI
Directly mandates timely remediation of known vulnerabilities like this out-of-bounds read in NDB file parsing by applying vendor patches such as updating to Simcenter Femap/Nastran V2512.
Implements memory safety mechanisms like ASLR and DEP to mitigate exploitation of out-of-bounds read vulnerabilities leading to arbitrary code execution.
Requires validation of information inputs such as specially crafted NDB files to prevent parsing flaws that trigger out-of-bounds reads.
MITRE ATT&CK Enterprise TechniquesAI
Why these techniques?
Out-of-bounds read in desktop client app enables arbitrary code execution when user opens malicious NDB file (T1204.002); directly matches exploitation of client software vulnerability for code execution (T1203).
NVD Description
A vulnerability has been identified in Simcenter Femap (All versions < V2512), Simcenter Nastran (All versions < V2512). The affected applications contains an out of bounds read vulnerability while parsing specially crafted NDB files. This could allow an attacker to…
more
execute code in the context of the current process.
Deeper analysisAI
CVE-2026-23720 is an out-of-bounds read vulnerability (CWE-125) affecting Simcenter Femap and Simcenter Nastran in all versions prior to V2512. The flaw arises during the parsing of specially crafted NDB files, which can trigger the vulnerability. Published on 2026-02-10, it has a CVSS v3.1 base score of 7.8 (AV:L/AC:L/PR:N/UI:R/S:U/C:H/I:H/A:H).
A local attacker can exploit this vulnerability by convincing a user to open a maliciously crafted NDB file within the affected applications. No special privileges are required, and the attack has low complexity, though it depends on user interaction. Successful exploitation allows arbitrary code execution in the context of the current process, potentially compromising confidentiality, integrity, and availability with high impact.
Siemens has published security advisory SSA-965753 at https://cert-portal.siemens.com/productcert/html/ssa-965753.html, which provides details on mitigation, including updating to Simcenter Femap V2512 or Simcenter Nastran V2512 or later versions.
Details
- CWE(s)