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OfficeApplication · Microsoft

CVE-2006-5994

HIGH · 9.3 CVSS v2.0 Published 2006-12-06
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 Microsoft Word 2000 and 2002, Office Word and Word Viewer 2003, Word 2004 and 2004 v. X for Mac, and Works 2004, 2005, and 2006 allows remote attackers to execute arbitrary code via a Word document with a malformed string that triggers memory corruption, a different vulnerability than CVE-2006-6456.

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 Microsoft Word's parsing of malformed strings in specially crafted Word documents, allowing remote arbitrary code execution. The vulnerability affects multiple Word versions across Windows and Mac platforms.

MitigationApply Microsoft security patch MS07-014 (or subsequent cumulative updates) to all affected Word installations and implement controls to prevent opening untrusted 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= 2004= xp
WordApplication
Affected:= 2000= 2002= 2003
Word ViewerApplication
Affected:= 2003
WorksApplication
Affected:= 2004= 2005= 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
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. Identify installed Microsoft Word version
    Open Word, go to Help > About Microsoft Office Word, or check Programs and Features for Microsoft Office/Microsoft Word installation
    Affected if Version is 2000, 2002 (XP), or 2003
  2. Identify installed Microsoft Office version
    Open any Office application, go to Help > About, or check Programs and Features for Microsoft Office
    Affected if Version is 2000, 2003, 2004, or XP
  3. Check for Microsoft Word Viewer
    Check Programs and Features for Microsoft Word Viewer 2003 installation
    Affected if Word Viewer 2003 is installed and not patched
  4. Check for Microsoft Works installation
    Check Programs and Features for Microsoft Works versions 2004, 2005, or 2006
    Affected if Any of these Works versions are installed and unpatched
  5. Verify security update MS07-014 is applied
    Check Windows Update history or the installed updates list for security update MS07-014 (or subsequent cumulative updates for Word)
    Affected if The update is NOT installed and affected Word version is present

Your environment is affected if any affected Word, Office, Word Viewer, or Works version listed above is installed AND security update MS07-014 (or later) has not been applied.

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
Mitigation available No clean upgrade yet — mitigate in the meantime
Mitigation

Apply Microsoft security patch MS07-014 (or subsequent cumulative updates) to all affected Word installations and implement controls to prevent opening untrusted Word documents from unknown sources.

Recommended fix High confidence

Microsoft Office Service Pack 3 for Office XP/2003, or migrate to Microsoft Office 2007 or later which includes the security fix

  1. Locate and download Microsoft Security Bulletin MS06-060 from the Microsoft Download Center or Microsoft Update Catalog
  2. Install the security update appropriate for your specific version of Office/Word (MS06-060 addresses CVE-2006-5994)
  3. Restart the computer after installing the update
  4. Verify the update was installed successfully via Add/Remove Programs (ensure 'Show updates' is checked) to confirm the security patch is listed
  5. Alternatively, ensure Windows Update is configured to automatically receive Microsoft security updates
Caveat If migrating to Office 2007 or later, be aware of the file format change from .doc to .docx and potential macro/compatibility issues with legacy documents

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

Fix this in Office Scoped from the published advisory
  • Consultation2.0 h
  • Implementation4.0 h
  • Testing2.0 h
  • Review / QA1.0 h
9.0 hours of engineering $1,600
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An estimate, not a bill — we confirm scope with you before any work starts. Need it this week? Rush from $2,560.

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-2006-5994 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