CVE-2023-36762: Microsoft Word Remote Code Execution Vulnerability

Overview

Severity
High (CVSS 7.3)
CVSS Vector
CVSS:3.1/AV:L/AC:L/PR:N/UI:R/S:U/C:H/I:H/A:L/E:U/RL:O/RC:C
Category
Remote Code Execution
Exploit Status
Not Exploited
Exploitation Likelihood
Unlikely
Patch Tuesday
2023-Sep
Released
2023-09-12
EPSS Score
0.11% (percentile: 29.0%)

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. For example, when the score indicates that the Attack Vector is Local and User Interaction is Required, this could describe an exploit in which an attacker, through social engineering, convinces a victim to download and open a specially crafted file from a website which leads to a local attack on their computer. According to the CVSS metric, successful exploitation of this vulnerability could lead to some loss of availability (A:L)? What does that mean for this vulnerability? The performance can be interrupted and/or reduced, but the attacker cannot fully deny service. Is the Attachment Preview Pane an attack vector for this vulnerability? Yes. The attachment Preview Pane that is accessed when a user clicks to preview an attached file is an attack vector; however, the email Preview Pane itself is not.

Affected Products (11)

Microsoft Office

  • Microsoft SharePoint Enterprise Server 2016
  • Microsoft Office 2019 for 32-bit editions
  • Microsoft Office 2019 for 64-bit editions
  • 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
  • Microsoft Office LTSC 2021 for 64-bit editions
  • Microsoft Office LTSC 2021 for 32-bit editions
  • Microsoft Word 2016 (32-bit edition)
  • Microsoft Word 2016 (64-bit edition)

Security Updates (5)

Acknowledgments

Dhanesh Kizhakkinan with Mandiant

Revision History

  • 2023-09-12: Information published.