CVE-2008-4028
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 · uneditedMicrosoft 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 crafted control words related to multiple Drawing Object tags in (1) an RTF file or (2) a rich text e-mail message, which triggers incorrect memory allocation and a heap-based buffer overflow, aka "Word RTF Object Parsing Vulnerability," a different vulnerability than CVE-2008-4030.
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 confidenceThis is a heap-based buffer overflow vulnerability in Microsoft Office's RTF parser triggered by crafted Drawing Object tags in RTF files or rich text e-mail messages. The vulnerability causes incorrect memory allocation during parsing, leading to arbitrary code execution with the privileges of the user opening the malicious 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= 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.
-
Identify installed Microsoft Office Word versionOpen Word, go to Help > About Microsoft Office Word, or check Add/Remove Programs for the installed version. For Outlook, check Help > About Microsoft Office Outlook.Affected if Version is 2000, 2002, 2003, 2004, 2007, or 2008 (Mac)
-
Identify installed Microsoft Office Compatibility Pack versionCheck Add/Remove Programs or Programs and Features for Microsoft Office Compatibility Pack for Word, Excel, and PowerPoint File Formats.Affected if Compatibility Pack is installed (any version)
-
Check for Microsoft Office Word Viewer 2003Check Add/Remove Programs for Microsoft Office Word Viewer 2003.Affected if Word Viewer 2003 is installed
-
Check for Microsoft Works 8.0Check Add/Remove Programs for Microsoft Works version 8.0.Affected if Microsoft Works 8.0 is installed
-
Check for Microsoft Open Xml File Format ConverterCheck Add/Remove Programs for Microsoft Open Xml File Format Converter.Affected if Open Xml File Format Converter is installed (any version)
If any of the listed affected Office products or components are installed and the system processes RTF files or receives rich text e-mail, the environment is potentially vulnerable to CVE-2008-4028.
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 for the affected Office versions. Until patches are applied, users should avoid opening untrusted RTF files or disable RTF preview in Outlook.
Apply Microsoft Security Bulletin MS08-072 security updates, then update to the latest available service packs for each affected product (e.g., Office Word 2007 to SP2, Office 2004/2008 for Mac to latest versions)
- Locate and apply the security update from Microsoft Security Bulletin MS08-072, which addresses this specific vulnerability (Word RTF Object Parsing Vulnerability)
- For Microsoft Office Word 2000 SP3 and Word 2002 SP3: Apply the security update specific to your version from MS08-072
- For Microsoft Office Word 2003 SP3: Apply the MS08-072 security update
- For Microsoft Office Word 2007 (Gold or SP1): Apply MS08-072 security update, then install the latest service pack (SP2)
- For Microsoft Office Outlook 2007 (Gold or SP1): Apply MS08-072 security update, then install the latest service pack (SP2)
- For Office Compatibility Pack for Word, Excel, PowerPoint 2007: Apply the MS08-072 security update for the compatibility pack
- For Office 2004 for Mac: Apply the security update for Office 2004 for Mac from the MS08-072 bulletin
- For Office 2008 for Mac: Apply the security update for Office 2008 for Mac from MS08-072
Generated from the published advisory — verify against the referenced sources before acting.
- Consultation4.0 h
- Implementation16.0 h
- Testing8.0 h
- Review / QA4.0 h
An estimate, not a bill — we confirm scope with you before any work starts. Need it this week? Rush from $8,960.
Scan for this in your stack
Free · runs locallyCheck whether your project pulls in CVE-2008-4028 — 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-2008-4028 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
Be the first to add a field note for this CVE — a mitigation you’ve verified, a version caveat, or a link to a working fix. Sign in above to contribute.
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