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Actively exploited in the wild. This CVE is on the CISA Known Exploited Vulnerabilities list — treat remediation as urgent. Federal remediation due by 22 Jun 2022.
OfficeApplication · Microsoft

CVE-2006-2492

HIGH · 8.8 CVSS v3.1 Published 2006-05-20
Fix available
A fix is available. Upgrade to after 2006 or later.
See remediation →
100/100
Remediation priority · Urgent
In the wild Public exploit Remotely reachable No privileges Patch available

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 · unedited
Buffer overflow in Microsoft Word in Office 2000 SP3, Office XP SP3, Office 2003 Sp1 and SP2, and Microsoft Works Suites through 2006, allows user-assisted attackers to execute arbitrary code via a malformed object pointer, as originally reported by ISC on 20060519 for a zero-day attack.

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 confidence

Buffer overflow vulnerability in Microsoft Word that triggers when processing a malformed object pointer in specially crafted .doc files. User-assisted attack vector requires victims to open malicious documents, enabling arbitrary code execution with the user's privileges.

MitigationApply Microsoft security update MS06-027 to all affected Office installations; warn users against opening untrusted or unexpected Word documents from unknown sources.

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
OfficeApplication
Affected:= 2000= 2003= xp
Works SuiteApplication
Affected:>= 2000, <= 2006

CVSS 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
Low
Privileges
None
User interaction
Required
Scope
Unchanged
Confidentiality
High
Integrity
High
Availability
High

CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:L/PR:N/UI:R/S:U/C:H/I:H/A:H

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 checks

Work through these to decide whether this CVE applies to you.

  1. Check installed Microsoft Office version
    Open Microsoft Office application, go to 'Help' and select 'About' to view the version number.
    Affected if The version is 2000, 2003, or XP.
  2. Check installed Microsoft Works Suite version
    Open Microsoft Works Suite, go to 'Help' and select 'About' to view the version number.
    Affected if The version is between 2000 and 2006, inclusive.

You are affected if you are using the specified versions of Microsoft Office or Microsoft Works Suite.

Generated from the published advisory. Verify against your own configuration.

Check your environment

Paste your version and any relevant configuration and it will be compared against the affected criteria above. Do not include secrets or credentials.

AI-assisted, checked against the advisory. Informational, not a guarantee.

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.

dbcve · scoped
Upgrade available Upgrade to a release after 2006
Vendor patch secunia.com →
Interim mitigation

Apply Microsoft security update MS06-027 to all affected Office installations; warn users against opening untrusted or unexpected Word documents from unknown sources.

Recommended fix High confidence

Upgrade to Microsoft Office 2007 or later / Microsoft 365

  1. Check the current Microsoft Office version and Service Pack level by opening Word, clicking 'Help' and selecting 'About Microsoft Office Word'
  2. Download and install MS06-027 from the Microsoft Download Center (https://www.microsoft.com/download/en/details.aspx?displaylang=en&id=2855)
  3. Alternatively, verify that Windows Update is enabled and check for the June 2006 security updates
  4. After patching, verify the update was applied successfully via 'Add or Remove Programs' looking for 'Security Update for Microsoft Office' (KB918165)
  5. For systems where patching is not feasible, upgrade to a supported Microsoft Office version (Office 2007 or later)
Caveat Office 2000 and XP reached end of support; ensure compatibility with newer Office file formats; legacy macros and add-ins may require updates

Generated from the published advisory — verify against the referenced sources before acting.

Fix this in Office Exploited in the wild — priority engagement
  • Consultation2.0 h
  • Implementation4.0 h
  • Testing4.0 h
  • Review / QA2.0 h
12.0 hours of engineering $2,080
Get it fixed fast

An estimate, not a bill — we confirm scope with you before any work starts. Need it this week? Rush from $3,328.

Scan for this in your stack

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References Go to the primary sourcePrimary sources — vendor advisories, patches and trackers. Where our summary and a reference disagree, the reference wins.

Primary sources

Practitioner notes

Contributed

Peer-ranked notes from engineers who’ve handled CVE-2006-2492 in production — separate from our analysis above.

No notes yet

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What this is

A place for practitioners to share what actually worked: a mitigation you’ve tested, a configuration change, a version- or environment-specific caveat, or a link to a verified patch. The most useful notes rise to the top as peers upvote them, so the signal stays high.

What belongs here
  • 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