Fixed Bing Live Maps in AutoCAD 2015/2014

Six days ago, we started to receive customer support tickets related to problems accessing online maps Microsoft Bing LiveMaps from the function GEOGRAPHICLOCATION in AutoCAD 2015 and 2014 (all verticals). The source of this problem was a change in the communication protocol (API) performed on Microsoft servers, triggered by a security problem identified in the SSLv3 encryption protocol.

Autodesk reworked the communication method used for the Bing mapping service and after a testing phase released a fix for the related program files (specifically AcGeoLocationUI.arx) for the AutoCAD 2014 and 2015 product family. The respective files and instructions for performing the can be downloaded from knowledge.autodesk.com.


using LiveMaps in the add-on CADstudio GeoCode
This incident has shown pitfalls of internet communication and dependencies of connected applications. On the other hand, it illustrates also the possibilities of a quick "global" fix for a newly discovered security problem.