CVE-2008-4025
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 · uneditedInteger overflow in Microsoft Office Word 2000 SP3, 2002 SP3, 2003 SP3, and 2007 Gold and SP1; Outlook 2007 Gold and SP1; Word Viewer 2003 Gold and SP3; Office Compatibility Pack for Word, Excel, and PowerPoint 2007 File Formats Gold and SP1; Office 2004 and 2008 for Mac; and Open XML File Format Converter for Mac allow remote attackers to execute arbitrary code via (1) an RTF file or (2) a rich text e-mail message containing an invalid number of points for a polyline or polygon, which triggers a heap-based buffer overflow, aka "Word RTF Object Parsing 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 · high confidenceInteger overflow vulnerability in Microsoft Office RTF parsing of polyline/polygon objects. When processing an invalid number of points in an RTF file or rich text email, the integer overflow causes a heap-based buffer overflow that can be leveraged for remote code execution.
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= 2004= 2008all versions= 2003all versions= 8.0= 2007= 2000= 2002= 2003= 2007CVSS 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 checksWork through these to decide whether this CVE applies to you.
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Identify installed Microsoft Office versionOpen any Office application (Word, Outlook), go to Help > About, or right-click the executable (winword.exe, outlook.exe) and view Properties > Details to see the version numberAffected if The version matches one of the affected versions: Office 2000, 2002, 2003, 2004, 2007, 2008, or Word Viewer 2003
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Check if RTF file handling is enabledAttempt to open a known RTF file with Word, or check if Outlook renders incoming RTF emails. In Outlook, go to Options > Mail Format and verify if RTF format is enabled for message compositionAffected if RTF parsing is active - the vulnerability triggers when processing RTF files with malformed polyline/polygon objects
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Verify patch status via installed updatesOpen Windows Update history or check Add/Remove Programs for installed updates. Look for security updates related to MS08-072 (the patch for this CVE)Affected if The MS08-072 security update is NOT installed, meaning the integer overflow vulnerability remains unpatched
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Confirm Outlook RTF rendering configurationIn Outlook, navigate to Tools > Options > Mail Format tab. Check if 'Use Microsoft Office Word 2003 to edit e-mail messages' is enabled, as this can enable richer RTF processingAffected if Outlook is configured to use Word for rendering or editing, which enables the vulnerable RTF parsing code path
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Check Microsoft Works version if installedOpen Microsoft Works (wks.exe), check Help > About, or view file properties. Works 8.0 is listed as affectedAffected if Microsoft Works version 8.0 is installed and RTF files can be opened within Works
You are affected if you run any of the vulnerable Microsoft Office products listed (2000/2002/2003/2004/2007/2008, Word Viewer 2003, Works 8.0, Outlook 2007) without the MS08-072 security patch installed, and RTF file handling or rendering is enabled.
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 patches (MS08-072) to all affected Office installations. Consider blocking RTF attachments at email gateway or disabling RTF rendering in Outlook until patches are applied.
Microsoft Office 2010 or later (or latest supported version per Microsoft lifecycle)
- Check current Microsoft Office version and installed service packs via Help > About Microsoft Office
- For Office Word/Outlook 2000-2003: Apply the relevant security update from Microsoft Security Bulletin MS08-070
- For Office 2007: Apply security update KB956328 (part of MS08-070)
- For Office Word Viewer 2003: Apply security update KB956329
- For Office Compatibility Pack 2007: Apply security update KB956430
- For Office 2004/2008 for Mac: Apply security update 2008-005
- For Open XML File Format Converter for Mac: Apply security update 2008-005
- Restart all Office applications after applying updates
Generated from the published advisory — verify against the referenced sources before acting.
- Consultation4.0 h
- Implementation8.0 h
- Testing6.0 h
- Review / QA4.0 h
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Scan for this in your stack
Free · runs locallyCheck whether your project pulls in CVE-2008-4025 — 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-2008-4025 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