CVE-2008-0102
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 · uneditedUnspecified vulnerability in Microsoft Office Publisher 2000, 2002, and 2003 SP2 allows remote attackers to execute arbitrary code via a crafted .pub file, related to invalid "memory values," aka "Publisher Invalid Memory Reference 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 · moderate confidenceMemory corruption vulnerability in Microsoft Office Publisher allows arbitrary code execution when processing maliciously crafted .pub files. The vulnerability involves invalid memory references during file parsing, enabling remote attackers to inject and execute arbitrary code via the crafted file.
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
- Low
- Authentication
- None
- Confidentiality
- Complete
- Integrity
- Complete
- Availability
- Complete
AV:N/AC:L/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 checksWork through these to decide whether this CVE applies to you.
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Verify Microsoft Publisher is installedCheck for Publisher installation in Windows by looking in Programs and Features, or check the registry key HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Office\Publisher for presenceAffected if Microsoft Publisher application exists on the system
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Identify installed Publisher versionOpen Publisher, go to Help > About Microsoft Office Publisher, or check the registry value at HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Office\Publisher\InstallRoot to find the version numberAffected if Version is 2000, 2002, or 2003 specifically (versions 9.0, 10.0, or 11.0)
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Confirm .pub file handling capabilityCheck if .pub file extension is associated with Publisher by examining file type associations in Windows Explorer or checking HKEY_CLASSES_ROOT\.pubAffected if The system has .pub files associated with and openable by the affected Publisher versions
The environment is affected if Microsoft Publisher versions 2000, 2002, or 2003 is installed and capable of opening .pub files, since the vulnerability triggers during malicious file parsing.
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.
dbcve · scopedApply Microsoft security update MS08-027 or upgrade to a supported version of Office. Users should avoid opening .pub files from untrusted sources until patches are applied.
Microsoft Office 2007 or later (which includes Publisher)
- 1. Obtain a supported version of Microsoft Office (such as Office 2007 or Office 2010) from official Microsoft channels
- 2. Uninstall Microsoft Office Publisher 2000, 2002, or 2003 from all affected systems
- 3. Install the newer version of Microsoft Office that includes Publisher
- 4. Verify the installation completed successfully
- 5. Test that .pub files open correctly in the new Publisher version
Generated from the published advisory — verify against the referenced sources before acting.
- Consultation2.0 h
- Implementation4.0 h
- Testing3.0 h
- Review / QA1.0 h
An estimate, not a bill — we confirm scope with you before any work starts. Need it this week? Rush from $2,800.
Scan for this in your stack
Free · runs locallyCheck whether your project pulls in CVE-2008-0102 — 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-2008-0102 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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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.
- 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