Rockwell Arena Simulation Flaws Allow Remote Execution of Malicious Code

Rockwell Automation has disclosed three critical memory corruption vulnerabilities in its Arena Simulation software that could allow attackers to execute malicious code remotely.

The vulnerabilities, discovered during routine internal testing, affect all versions of Arena Simulation 16.20.09 and earlier, potentially exposing industrial automation environments to significant security risks.

Critical Security Flaws Identified

The three vulnerabilities, tracked as CVE-2025-7025, CVE-2025-7032, and CVE-2025-7033, all carry a high severity rating with CVSS 4.0 base scores of 8.4 out of 10.

Security researcher Michael Heinzl reported these flaws, which involve memory abuse issues that enable attackers to manipulate the software’s memory allocation processes.

Each vulnerability allows threat actors to force Arena Simulation to read and write beyond designated memory boundaries through specially crafted files.

While successful exploitation requires user interaction—such as opening a malicious file or webpage—the potential consequences are severe.

Attackers who successfully exploit these flaws could execute arbitrary code on targeted systems or disclose sensitive information from affected environments.

The three CVEs represent different types of memory corruption attacks. CVE-2025-7025 involves out-of-bounds read operations, while CVE-2025-7032 exploits stack-based buffer overflows and CVE-2025-7033 targets heap-based buffer overflows.

Despite their technical differences, all three vulnerabilities share similar attack vectors and require user interaction to trigger malicious code execution.

Rockwell Automation has released version 16.20.10 of Arena Simulation, which addresses all three vulnerabilities.

The company emphasizes the importance of immediate updates, particularly for organizations operating in critical industrial environments where simulation software plays a vital role in operational planning and system optimization.

For users unable to upgrade immediately, Rockwell recommends implementing strict security protocols, including limiting file access permissions, restricting internet connectivity for simulation systems, and employing comprehensive endpoint detection and response solutions.

These vulnerabilities highlight ongoing security challenges in industrial automation software, where legacy systems and complex integration requirements often complicate rapid security updates.

Organizations using Arena Simulation should prioritize immediate patching and conduct thorough security assessments of their simulation environments.

The disclosure follows Rockwell’s commitment to transparency in vulnerability reporting, discovered through internal testing rather than external exploitation attempts.

Currently, none of these vulnerabilities appear in CISA’s Known Exploited Vulnerability database, suggesting no active exploitation campaigns have been detected.

The Ultimate SOC-as-a-Service Pricing Guide for 2025– Download for Free