Attack ChainAIDerived
Hypothetical attack flow derived from CVE metadata – not a confirmed exploit chain
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AccessCraft malicious Excel workbook
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DeliveryDeliver via phishing or download
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ExploitVictim opens document in Excel
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ExecutionTrigger integer underflow and heap corruption
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ImpactExecute code as current user
Vulnerability Assessment
| Weakness |
CWE
ASVS 5.0
V15 - Secure Coding and Architecture Heap buffer bounds checking
MITRE ATT&CK
1 technique across 1 tactic: Execution The technique list with ATT&CK links and the kill-chain view is part of the Basic plan and up. |
| Exploitation Conditions | Exploitation requires a user to open an attacker-crafted Excel document (CVSS UI:R) in an affected build of Microsoft Office Excel - including Microsoft 365 Apps for Enterprise, Office LTSC 2021/2024, Office LTSC for Mac 2021/2024, Office 365 for Mac, and Office Online Server below the fixed versions. No authentication or pre-existing privileges on the target are needed (PR:N), and no special non-default product configuration is required to trigger the integer underflow in the file parser. The key limiting factors are the mandatory user interaction and Office's built-in mitigations: Protected View and Mark-of-the-Web sandboxing block the exploit until the user explicitly enables editing/content, so the realistic risk is tied to social-engineering success rather than silent remote compromise. |
| Impact | This is a genuine patching priority despite relying on user interaction. The CVSS 3.1 base score of 8.8 (AV:N/AC:L/PR:N/UI:R/S:U/C:H/I:H/A:H) reflects a low-complexity, unauthenticated vector requiring one user action, with full compromise of confidentiality, integrity, and availability in the victim's security context. The 'over a network' / AV:N framing is the standard Microsoft Office file-delivery model rather than a server-side auto-exploit: the UI:R component means a user must open a crafted Excel document, which is the primary limiting factor and the reason this is not a wormable, zero-click issue. No EPSS score, CISA KEV listing, or public POC was provided in the input, so there is no public exploit identified at time of analysis and no evidence of active exploitation - the risk is driven by the product's enormous deployment footprint and the proven effectiveness of malicious-Office-document phishing, not by any observed in-the-wild signal. Note a minor source discrepancy: the description states 'integer underflow' (conceptually CWE-191) while the assigned CWE is CWE-122 (heap-based buffer overflow) and tags cite Heap Overflow; these are consistent if the underflow drives an undersized heap allocation that is then overflowed, but the root-cause label should be verified against the MSRC advisory. |
| Exploit ScenarioDerived | An attacker crafts a malicious Excel workbook that triggers an integer underflow leading to heap corruption in Excel's file parser, then delivers it via phishing email, a shared drive, or a web download. When the victim opens the file (and bypasses or lacks Protected View / Mark-of-the-Web mitigations), the memory corruption is leveraged to execute arbitrary code in the context of the current user. No public exploit code was identified in the provided intelligence. |
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Alert meAnalysisAIv1 – Oct 13, 2026
Remote code execution in Microsoft Office Excel is possible when an unauthenticated attacker convinces a user to open a crafted spreadsheet in an unpatched build, with the underlying flaw being an integer underflow/wraparound in the document parser that corrupts memory. Affected builds include Microsoft 365 Apps for Enterprise, Office LTSC 2021 and 2024, Office LTSC for Mac 2021 and 2024, Office 365 for Mac, and Office Online Server below their fixed builds; exploitation requires the user to open and enable content in the malicious document (CVSS UI:R) but needs no credentials or pre-existing privileges on the target (PR:N). No public exploit was identified at time of analysis, and Microsoft has released fixed builds, so this is a genuine patching priority even though the attack hinges on user interaction and is substantially blunted by Protected View and Mark-of-the-Web sandboxing.
RemediationAI
Vendor-released patches are available, and the exact fixed builds from the affected-version data should be applied: Microsoft Office LTSC 2021 must be updated to 16.0.14334.20974 or later, Microsoft Office LTSC 2024 to 16.0.17932.21056 or later, and Office Online Server to 16.0.10417.20228 or later; Mac editions (Office LTSC for Mac 2021, Office LTSC for Mac 2024, and Office 365 for Mac) and Microsoft 365 Apps for Enterprise should be brought to the current published builds via the Microsoft 365 Apps update channels referenced at https://aka.ms/OfficeSecurityReleases, with the full per-product matrix in the MSRC advisory at https://msrc.microsoft.com/update-guide/vulnerability/CVE-2026-97739. Where immediate patching is not possible, the highest-value compensating controls are the built-in ones: ensure Protected View and Mark-of-the-Web handling remain enforced for files originating from the internet, email, and untrusted locations (trade-off: users must click through to edit, which creates social-engineering pressure and some workflow friction), and disable or restrict the opening of files from untrusted sources via Trust Center file-block and attachment-handling policies, including blocking legacy Excel formats that are rarely used in normal business flow. Additional hardening includes deploying Attack Surface Reduction rules that block Office applications from creating child processes and from injecting into other processes (trade-off: can break legitimate macros, add-ins, and automation, so pilot before broad rollout), restricting macros/add-ins and legacy Excel binary formats through group policy where they are not required, and monitoring for users disabling Protected View or routinely clicking through warnings. Note that Windows and Office security updates are cumulative, so patching resolves the flaw once the fixed builds above are installed and the updates installed successfully.
Affected VersionsENISA
Affected Packages
Source: OSV (Open Source Vulnerabilities)
Affects your stack
Affects 3 packages in euvd
Checking this CVE against your own stacks and servers is part of the Basic plan and up.
Technical ContextAI · show details
The root cause class is CWE-122 (heap-based buffer overflow), with the description attributing the trigger to an integer underflow or wraparound in Microsoft Office Excel's file/format parsing logic. In this pattern, a length or offset field in the crafted spreadsheet is decremented or wrapped around a boundary, producing an unexpectedly small or negative computed size; that result is then used for a heap allocation or bounds check, so subsequent parsing writes past the end of the undersized buffer and corrupts adjacent heap memory. Because the corruption occurs inside the Excel process while handling untrusted document content, successful exploitation yields code execution in the context of the opening user, matching the assessed vector CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:L/PR:N/UI:R/S:U/C:H/I:H/A:H - network-delivered, low complexity, no privileges required, scope unchanged, and high impact to confidentiality, integrity, and availability. The network attack vector (AV:N) reflects delivery of the file over a network (email, web download, chat), not a remotely reachable service exploit: the malicious Excel document must actually be opened on an affected build, and no non-default product configuration is needed for the parser underflow itself to trigger. The practical barrier is therefore exposure to the document plus Office's built-in mitigations - Protected View and Mark-of-the-Web - which keep the file in a restricted, non-editing state until the user explicitly enables editing or content. The CWE (heap overflow) and the description (integer underflow) are complementary rather than contradictory: the underflow is the arithmetic precursor, and the heap overflow is the resulting memory-safety condition.
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Severity by source
AV:N/AC:L/PR:N/UI:R/S:U/C:H/I:H/A:H
Malicious document is delivered over the network with no attacker privileges, but a user must open it (UI:R); successful parsing bug yields full RCE in the user context, so C/I/A are High.
Primary rating from Vendor (microsoft).
CVSS VectorVendor: microsoft
Lifecycle Timeline
2DescriptionCVE.org
Integer underflow (wrap or wraparound) in Microsoft Office Excel allows an unauthorized attacker to execute code over a network.
Executive ViewAI
Microsoft Excel is affected by a high-severity remote code execution vulnerability (CVE-2026-97739) that could allow an attacker to execute malicious code on a victim's system if they open a specially crafted spreadsheet. This affects organizations using Microsoft 365 Apps for Enterprise, Office LTSC 2021/2024, Office for Mac, and Office Online Server. While exploitation requires user interaction (opening a file and enabling content) and mitigations exist, the availability of vendor patches makes this a manageable but urgent patching priority to prevent potential data breaches or system compromise.
Apply vendor patch.
Threat Intelligence Overview
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.
What every action level means
SSVC AssessmentENISA
Priority Score
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.
A heap overflow occurs when a program writes data beyond the bounds of a buffer allocated in the heap memory region.
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EUVD-2026-99828
GHSA-g8vq-mrq5-m545
NVD
CVE.org
EPSS
Vulnrichment
Exploit-DB