CVE-2023-23398: Microsoft Excel Spoofing Vulnerability

Overview

Severity
High (CVSS 7.1)
CVSS Vector
CVSS:3.1/AV:L/AC:L/PR:N/UI:R/S:U/C:H/I:H/A:N/E:U/RL:O/RC:C
Category
Spoofing
Exploit Status
Not Exploited
Exploitation Likelihood
More Likely
Patch Tuesday
2023-Mar
Released
2023-03-14
Last Updated
2023-06-13
EPSS Score
0.71% (percentile: 72.3%)

FAQ

According to the CVSS metric, user interaction is required (UI:R). What interaction would the user have to do? Exploitation of the vulnerability requires that a user open a specially crafted file with an affected version of Microsoft Excel and click the security warning prompt to "Enable Content". In an email attack scenario, an attacker could exploit the vulnerability by sending the specially crafted file to the user and convincing the user to open the file. In a web-based attack scenario, an attacker could host a website (or leverage a compromised website that accepts or hosts user-provided content) containing a specially crafted file designed to exploit the vulnerability. An attacker would have no way to force users to visit the website. Instead, an attacker would have to convince users to click a link, typically by way of an enticement in an email or instant message, and then convince them to open the specially crafted file. According to the CVSS metrics, successful exploitation of this vulnerability could lead to major loss of confidentiality (C:H) and major loss of integrity (I:H) but have no effect on availability (A:N). What does that mean for this vulnerability? An attacker who successfully exploited this vulnerability could trick a user into enabling content, that they are unable to inspect, which enables an attacker to view or alter data. However, this vulnerability would not allow an attacker to deny any function. Is the Preview Pane an attack vector for this vulnerability? No, the Preview Pane is not an attack vector. According to the CVSS metric, the attack vector is local (AV:L) but no privileges are required (PR:N) and user interaction is required (UI:R). How could an attacker exploit this spoofing vulnerability? The attack itself is carried out locally by a user with authentication to the targeted system. An attacker could exploit the vulnerability by convincing a victim, through social engineering, to download and open a specially craft

Affected Products (11)

Microsoft Office

  • Microsoft Office 2019 for 32-bit editions
  • Microsoft Office 2019 for 64-bit editions
  • Microsoft 365 Apps for Enterprise for 32-bit Systems
  • Microsoft 365 Apps for Enterprise for 64-bit Systems
  • Microsoft Office LTSC 2021 for 64-bit editions
  • Microsoft Office LTSC 2021 for 32-bit editions
  • Microsoft Excel 2016 (32-bit edition)
  • Microsoft Excel 2016 (64-bit edition)
  • Microsoft Excel 2013 RT Service Pack 1
  • Microsoft Excel 2013 Service Pack 1 (32-bit editions)
  • Microsoft Excel 2013 Service Pack 1 (64-bit editions)

Security Updates (3)

Acknowledgments

Anonymous

Revision History

  • 2023-03-14: Information published.
  • 2023-05-09: Updated FAQ information. This is an informational change only.
  • 2023-06-13: Added FAQ information. This is an informational change only.