CVE-2017-11882
HIGHCVSS Vector
CVSS:3.1/AV:L/AC:L/PR:N/UI:R/S:U/C:H/I:H/A:H
Lifecycle Timeline
5Description
Microsoft Office 2007 Service Pack 3, Microsoft Office 2010 Service Pack 2, Microsoft Office 2013 Service Pack 1, and Microsoft Office 2016 allow an attacker to run arbitrary code in the context of the current user by failing to properly handle objects in memory, aka "Microsoft Office Memory Corruption Vulnerability". This CVE ID is unique from CVE-2017-11884.
Analysis
Microsoft Office 2007 through 2016 Equation Editor (EQNEDT32.EXE) contains a memory corruption vulnerability that enables remote code execution through crafted documents, becoming the single most exploited vulnerability in the world during 2018.
Technical Context
The CWE-119 buffer overflow in EQNEDT32.EXE (compiled in 2000, never recompiled with modern protections) allows stack-based code execution when processing crafted OLE equation objects. The binary lacks ASLR, DEP, and stack cookies, making exploitation deterministic. Attackers embed malicious equation objects in RTF or DOCX files.
Affected Products
['Microsoft Office 2007 SP3', 'Microsoft Office 2010 SP2', 'Microsoft Office 2013 SP1', 'Microsoft Office 2016']
Remediation
Apply Microsoft security update. Microsoft ultimately removed EQNEDT32.EXE entirely in later updates. Disable the Equation Editor via registry or Group Policy. Block RTF files at email gateways.
Priority Score
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External POC / Exploit Code
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