CVE-2023-33161: Microsoft Excel Remote Code Execution Vulnerability

Overview

Severity
High (CVSS 7.8)
CVSS Vector
CVSS:3.1/AV:L/AC:L/PR:N/UI:R/S:U/C:H/I:H/A:H/E:U/RL:O/RC:C
Category
Remote Code Execution
Exploit Status
Not Exploited
Exploitation Likelihood
Less Likely
Patch Tuesday
2023-Jul
Released
2023-07-11
EPSS Score
0.80% (percentile: 74.2%)

FAQ

According to the CVSS metric, the attack vector is local (AV:L). Why does the CVE title indicate that this is a remote code execution? The word Remote in the title refers to the location of the attacker. This type of exploit is sometimes referred to as Arbitrary Code Execution (ACE). The attack itself is carried out locally. This means an attacker or victim needs to execute code from the local machine to exploit the vulnerability. According to the CVSS metric, user interaction is required (UI:R). What interaction would the user have to do? An attacker must send the user a malicious file and convince them to open it. According to the CVSS metric, successful exploitation of this vulnerability could lead to total loss of confidentiality (C:H), integrity (I:H), and availability (A:H). What does that mean for this vulnerability? An attacker who successfully exploits this vulnerability could perform a local attack potentially enabling access to the victim user's information, the ability to alter information, or the ability to cause downtime to the target environment.

Affected Products (4)

Microsoft Office

  • Microsoft Office 2019 for Mac
  • Microsoft 365 Apps for Enterprise for 32-bit Systems
  • Microsoft 365 Apps for Enterprise for 64-bit Systems
  • Microsoft Office LTSC for Mac 2021

Security Updates (1)

Acknowledgments

Wenguang Jiao

Revision History

  • 2023-07-11: Information published.