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OfficeApplication · Microsoft

CVE-2006-3864

HIGH · 9.3 CVSS v2.0 Published 2006-10-10
Mitigation only
No fix yet — a mitigation exists. There is no fixed release. A documented workaround reduces exposure in the meantime.
See remediation →
100/100
Remediation priority · Urgent
Remotely reachable No privileges Zero-click

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
Unspecified vulnerability in mso.dll in Microsoft Office 2000, XP, and 2003, and Microsoft PowerPoint 2000, XP, and 2003, allows remote user-assisted attackers to execute arbitrary code via a malformed record in a (1) .DOC, (2) .PPT, or (3) .XLS file that triggers memory corruption, related to an "array boundary condition" (possibly an array index overflow), a different vulnerability than CVE-2006-3434, CVE-2006-3650, and CVE-2006-3868.

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

Memory corruption vulnerability in mso.dll allows remote code execution via malformed records in .DOC, .PPT, or .XLS files. The flaw involves an array boundary/array index overflow condition that corrupts memory when Microsoft Office parses specially crafted documents.

MitigationApply vendor patches (MS06-038) for affected Office versions; implement file filtering/validation for Office documents from untrusted sources; disable Office file previewing in email gateways; employ application whitelisting to block execution of malicious Office files.

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= 2004= v.x= xp
ProjectApplication
Affected:= 2000= 2002
VisioApplication
Affected:= 2002

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
M
Authentication
None
Confidentiality
Complete
Integrity
Complete
Availability
Complete

AV:N/AC:M/Au:N/C:C/I:C/A:C

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. Locate mso.dll and determine its version
    Search for mso.dll in common Office installation paths (e.g., C:\Program Files\Microsoft Office\, C:\Program Files (x86)\Microsoft Office\) and use the file properties or a tool like 'dir /s mso.dll' from a command prompt to find all instances. Right-click the file, select Properties, and note the 'File version' field.
    Affected if The file version of mso.dll corresponds to an unpatched version from before the MS06-038 patch release (released August 8, 2006). Compare your version to known vulnerable versions for Office 2000, 2003, 2004, XP.
  2. Identify installed Microsoft Office version
    Open Registry Editor and navigate to HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Office\(version)\InstallRoot, or check 'Add or Remove Programs' in Control Panel for installed Microsoft Office products. Alternatively, run 'winword.exe /?' or 'excel.exe /?' from the Office program directory to display version information.
    Affected if Microsoft Office version is 2000, 2003, 2004, or XP (Office version 10).
  3. Identify installed Microsoft Project version (if present)
    Check 'Add or Remove Programs' in Control Panel for Microsoft Project, or search for WINPROJ.EXE on the system and check its version properties.
    Affected if Microsoft Project version is 2000 or 2002.
  4. Identify installed Microsoft Visio version (if present)
    Check 'Add or Remove Programs' in Control Panel for Microsoft Visio, or search for VISIO.EXE on the system and check its version properties.
    Affected if Microsoft Visio version is 2002.
  5. Verify if document parsing is active
    Check if Microsoft Office applications (WINWORD.EXE, EXCEL.EXE, POWERPNT.EXE) or Office file preview handlers are installed and available on the system. Review email gateway or collaboration server settings if documents are processed server-side.
    Affected if The system has Microsoft Office, Project, or Visio installed AND these applications can open .DOC, .PPT, or .XLS files, enabling the vulnerable mso.dll code path.

You are affected if mso.dll with an unpatched version is present on a system running Microsoft Office 2000/2003/2004/XP, Microsoft Project 2000/2002, or Microsoft Visio 2002, and these applications can parse document files.

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.

From vendor data
Mitigation available No clean upgrade yet — mitigate in the meantime
Mitigation

Apply vendor patches (MS06-038) for affected Office versions; implement file filtering/validation for Office documents from untrusted sources; disable Office file previewing in email gateways; employ application whitelisting to block execution of malicious Office files.

Fix this in Office Scoped from the published advisory
  • Consultation2.0 h
  • Implementation4.0 h
  • Testing3.0 h
  • Review / QA1.0 h
10.0 hours of engineering $1,750
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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-2006-3864 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