CVE-2002-0616
Official description Straight from the sourceThe vendor's or NVD's own wording, published unedited. Authoritative, but often terse — it says what broke, rarely what to do.
NVD · uneditedThe Macro Security Model in Microsoft Excel 2000 and 2002 for Windows allows remote attackers to execute code by attaching an inline macro to an object within an Excel workbook, aka the "Excel Inline Macros Vulnerability."
Technical summary Written by usOur analysis, written from the advisory, the CVSS vector and the affected-version data. It adds context the advisory leaves out, and never invents facts that are not in the source.
dbcve analysis · high confidenceThis vulnerability exists in the Macro Security Model of Microsoft Excel 2000 and 2002 for Windows. Attackers can execute arbitrary code by embedding an inline macro directly onto an object within an Excel workbook file, bypassing normal macro security restrictions.
Verify against the referenced sources before acting — the references below are authoritative for this CVE, this summary is not.
Affected products & versions What the vendor confirmedThe version ranges the vendor confirmed as vulnerable. If your version sits inside a range here, treat yourself as exposed until you have upgraded.
NVD · CPE data= 2000= 2002= 2000= xpCVSS breakdown How the score is builtThe industry scoring standard. It rates how the flaw is reached, what it takes to exploit, and what an attacker gains — the score is derived from those, not the other way round.
From the vector- Attack vector
- Network
- Complexity
- High
- Authentication
- None
- Confidentiality
- Partial
- Integrity
- Partial
- Availability
- Partial
AV:N/AC:H/Au:N/C:P/I:P/A:P
Am I affected? How to checkSteps we derive from the advisory and the affected-version data, so you can decide whether this CVE reaches your setup. They are a guide, not a scan — your own configuration is the authority.
dbcve checksWork through these to decide whether this CVE applies to you.
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Identify installed Excel versionOpen Excel, go to Help > About Microsoft Excel. Alternatively, check the program file properties of EXCEL.EXE in the Office installation directory (typically C:\Program Files\Microsoft Office\Office10 for Excel 2002 or Office9 for Excel 2000).Affected if Version displays as Excel 2000 (version 9.0) or Excel 2002 (version 10.0)
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Check Windows Office versionOpen Control Panel > Add or Remove Programs (or Programs and Features). Locate Microsoft Office or Microsoft Excel in the installed programs list and note the version listed.Affected if Version shows as Microsoft Office 2000 or Microsoft Office XP (2002)
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Verify macro security levelIn Excel, go to Tools > Macro > Security. Observe the security level setting (High, Medium, Low, or Very High depending on version).Affected if Security level is set to Low or Medium, or if set to High but the specific workbook is marked as Trusted (allowing macros to run)
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Inspect workbook for embedded objects with macrosOpen the suspect Excel file in Excel. Right-click on any embedded object (shape, chart, drawing, OLE object) and select Format Object or Edit. Check the object's properties or VBA project for embedded macro code. Use Alt+F11 to view the VBA project explorer for the workbook.Affected if The workbook contains embedded objects that have VBA macro code attached to them, especially objects with non-standard macro execution triggers
Your environment is affected if you are running Excel 2000 or Excel 2002 (Office 2000 or XP) on Windows with macro execution allowed, particularly when opening Excel files from untrusted sources that may contain inline macros on embedded objects.
Generated from the published advisory. Verify against your own configuration.
Remediation Closing itWhat it takes to close this. Where a vendor fix exists we point at it; where none exists we say so plainly, and can build one. Effort estimates are scoped from the advisory, not from your codebase.
From vendor dataApply the relevant Microsoft security patches for Excel 2000/2002, or upgrade to a supported Excel version with current security updates. Organizations should also enable macro blocking policies and validate Excel files from untrusted sources.
- Consultation2.0 h
- Implementation2.0 h
- Testing2.0 h
- Review / QA1.0 h
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Scan for this in your stack
Free · runs locallyCheck whether your project pulls in CVE-2002-0616 — or any other known-vulnerable package — straight from your lock files. Free and open source; it runs locally and uploads nothing.
References Go to the primary sourcePrimary sources — vendor advisories, patches and trackers. Where our summary and a reference disagree, the reference wins.
Primary sourcesPractitioner notes
ContributedPeer-ranked notes from engineers who’ve handled CVE-2002-0616 in production — separate from our analysis above.
The advisory tells you what broke. It rarely tells you what actually worked. If you’ve dealt with this one, that detail is what the next engineer is searching for.
- The version that genuinely resolved it — not the one the vendor claimed
- A config change or rule that shut the vector down
- A gotcha in the upgrade path that cost you an afternoon
No notes yet
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- Verified mitigations, workarounds, and config changes
- Version or environment caveats, and links to real fixes
- No weaponised exploit code, or anything meant to cause harm
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