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Excel CVE-2012-1885

CRITICAL
Buffer Overflow (CWE-119)
2012-11-14 secure@microsoft.com
9.3
CVSS 2.0 · NVD
View

Vulnerability Assessment

Weakness
CWE
ASVS 5.0
V15 - Secure Coding and Architecture Bounds checking, buffer size validation
MITRE ATT&CK

2 techniques across 2 tactics: Execution, Privilege Escalation

The technique list with ATT&CK links and the kill-chain view is part of the Basic plan and up.

Impact

CVSS score of 9.3 (CRITICAL). Attack characteristics: network attack vector, M complexity. EPSS exploitation probability: 65.94%.

Exploit ScenarioDerived

A remote attacker could corrupt memory to execute arbitrary code or crash the application by sending crafted requests to the affected application.

Emergency Immediate action required. Why: CRITICAL + EPSS > 30%, no patch available.
No patch listed yet 65.9% exploitation probability (EPSS)

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AnalysisAI

Heap-based buffer overflow in Microsoft Excel 2003 SP3, 2007 SP2 and SP3, and 2010 SP1; Office 2008 and 2011 for Mac; and Office Compatibility Pack SP2 and SP3 allows remote attackers to execute. Rated critical severity (CVSS 9.3), this vulnerability is remotely exploitable. Epss exploitation probability 65.9% and no vendor patch available.

RemediationAI

No vendor patch is available at time of analysis. Monitor vendor advisories for updates. Use memory-safe languages or bounds-checking. Enable ASLR, DEP/NX, stack canaries. Use safe string functions.

Affects your stack

Find out whether the stacks and servers you run are on an affected version.

Checking this CVE against your own stacks and servers is part of the Basic plan and up.

Technical ContextAI · show details

This vulnerability is classified as Buffer Overflow (CWE-119), which allows attackers to corrupt memory to execute arbitrary code or crash the application. Heap-based buffer overflow in Microsoft Excel 2003 SP3, 2007 SP2 and SP3, and 2010 SP1; Office 2008 and 2011 for Mac; and Office Compatibility Pack SP2 and SP3 allows remote attackers to execute arbitrary code via a crafted spreadsheet, aka "Excel SerAuxErrBar Heap Overflow Vulnerability." Affected products include: Microsoft Excel, Microsoft Office, Microsoft Office Compatibility Pack.

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  • Exploit and PoC references, threat intelligence from 22 sources

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Severity by source

NVD PRIMARY 9.3 CRITICAL
AV:N/AC:M/Au:N/C:C/I:C/A:C

Primary rating from NVD · only source for this CVE.

CVSS VectorNVD

Attack Vector
Network
Attack Complexity
M
Confidentiality
C
Integrity
C
Availability
C

DescriptionCVE.org

Heap-based buffer overflow in Microsoft Excel 2003 SP3, 2007 SP2 and SP3, and 2010 SP1; Office 2008 and 2011 for Mac; and Office Compatibility Pack SP2 and SP3 allows remote attackers to execute arbitrary code via a crafted spreadsheet, aka "Excel SerAuxErrBar Heap Overflow Vulnerability."

Threat Intelligence Overview

EPSS Score
65.9%
Top 1% exploitable
Data Quality
3 sources
Confidence: Low

How this decision was reached

The engine reads each signal below and applies a fixed list of rules from top to bottom. The first rule that matches sets the recommended action – like a statement, every line is shown.

SignalValue
Severity CRITICAL
CISA KEV No
Public POC No
EPSS 65.9%
Patch available No
Active threat No
Deciding rule
CRITICAL + EPSS > 30%, no patch available
What every action level means
Emergency Immediate action required. Criteria: CRITICAL + in CISA KEV (actively exploited) without patch, OR CRITICAL + EPSS > 30% without patch, OR CRITICAL + active threat signals without patch.
Act Now Prioritize within 24-48h. Criteria: in KEV with patch available, OR CRITICAL + public POC, OR HIGH + EPSS > 10%, OR CRITICAL + active threat, OR any CRITICAL severity.
This Week Schedule remediation this week. Criteria: HIGH severity (CVSS 7.0-8.9). Patch within normal change window.
This Month Plan within 30 days. Criteria: MEDIUM severity (CVSS 4.0-6.9), lower exploitation probability. Include in regular patch cycle.
Monitor Track and reassess. Criteria: LOW severity (CVSS 0.1-3.9), minimal exploitation risk. No immediate action needed.

SSVC AssessmentENISA

SSVC Decision· derived
Scheduled
Exploitation· derived
None
System Exposure· derived
Open
Automatable· derived
No
Human Impact· derived
Medium

Priority Score

112
Low Medium High Critical
KEV: 0
EPSS: +66
CVSS: +46
PoC: 0
Weaponized: 0
Threat intel: 0
Gov advisory: 0

Attack Technique

A buffer overflow occurs when a program writes more data to a memory buffer than it was allocated to hold, causing the excess data to spill into adjacent memory regions.

Remote Code Execution represents the critical moment when an attacker successfully runs arbitrary code on a target system without physical access.

Affected Products (CPE)CVE.org

cpe:2.3:a:microsoft:excel:2003:sp3:*:*:*:*:*:*
cpe:2.3:a:microsoft:excel:2007:sp2:*:*:*:*:*:*
cpe:2.3:a:microsoft:excel:2007:sp3:*:*:*:*:*:*
cpe:2.3:a:microsoft:excel:2010:sp1:x64:*:*:*:*:*
cpe:2.3:a:microsoft:excel:2010:sp1:x86:*:*:*:*:*
cpe:2.3:a:microsoft:office:2008:*:mac:*:*:*:*:*
cpe:2.3:a:microsoft:office:2011:*:mac:*:*:*:*:*
cpe:2.3:a:microsoft:office_compatibility_pack:*:sp2:*:*:*:*:*:*
cpe:2.3:a:microsoft:office_compatibility_pack:*:sp3:*:*:*:*:*:*

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