CVE-2024-49069: 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
2024-Dec
Released
2024-12-10
Last Updated
2024-12-12
EPSS Score
0.33% (percentile: 55.7%)

FAQ

Is the Preview Pane an attack vector for this vulnerability? No, the Preview Pane is not an attack vector. How could an attacker exploit this vulnerability? An unauthenticated attacker who successfully exploited this vulnerability could gain code execution through convincing a user to open a malicious document at which point the attacker could execute arbitrary code in the context of the user. 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? A user needs to be tricked into opening malicious files.

Affected Products (12)

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 for Mac 2021
  • Microsoft Office LTSC 2021 for 64-bit editions
  • Microsoft Office LTSC 2021 for 32-bit editions
  • Microsoft Office LTSC 2024 for 32-bit editions
  • Microsoft Office LTSC 2024 for 64-bit editions
  • Microsoft Office LTSC for Mac 2024
  • Microsoft Excel 2016 (32-bit edition)
  • Microsoft Excel 2016 (64-bit edition)

Security Updates (3)

Acknowledgments

Jmini, boolgombear

Revision History

  • 2024-12-10: Information published.
  • 2024-12-12: Updated acknowledgment. This is an informational change only.