CVE-2005-0558
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 · uneditedBuffer overflow in Microsoft Word 2000, Word 2002, and Word 2003 allows remote attackers to execute arbitrary code via a crafted document.
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 · moderate confidenceBuffer overflow vulnerability in Microsoft Word 2000, 2002, and 2003 allows remote attackers to execute arbitrary code by tricking users into opening a specially crafted Word document.
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= 2003CVSS 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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Verify Microsoft Word is installedCheck for the presence of WINWORD.EXE in typical installation paths such as C:\Program Files\Microsoft Office\Office (for Office 2000/2002/2003) or C:\Program Files (x86)\Microsoft Office\Office, or open Word and look for the application.Affected if Microsoft Word is not installed on the system.
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Determine installed Word version via About dialogOpen Microsoft Word, click Help menu, then select About Microsoft Office Word. Note the version number displayed (e.g., Word 2000 shows 9.0, Word 2002 shows 10.0, Word 2003 shows 11.0).Affected if The version displayed is 9.0 (Word 2000), 10.0 (Word 2002), or 11.0 (Word 2003).
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Determine installed Word version via registryOpen Registry Editor (regedit.exe), navigate to HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Office\{version}\Word\InstallRoot (where {version} is 9.0, 10.0, or 11.0), and check the value to confirm the installation path.Affected if The registry contains version keys 9.0, 10.0, or 11.0 under the Office key, confirming Word 2000, 2002, or 2003 respectively.
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Check file version of WINWORD.EXELocate WINWORD.EXE in the installation directory, right-click the file, select Properties, go to the Details tab, and note the File Version field.Affected if The file version corresponds to Word 2000 (version 9.0.x), Word 2002 (version 10.0.x), or Word 2003 (version 11.0.x).
The system is affected if Microsoft Word version 9.0 (2000), 10.0 (2002), or 11.0 (2003) is installed, as these specific versions contain the buffer overflow vulnerability.
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 Microsoft security patches for this vulnerability or upgrade to a newer version of Microsoft Word that is no longer affected.
- Consultation2.0 h
- Implementation1.0 h
- Testing1.0 h
- Review / QA1.0 h
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Scan for this in your stack
Free · runs locallyCheck whether your project pulls in CVE-2005-0558 — 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-2005-0558 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
- No spam, self-promotion, credentials, or personal data