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Office ExcelApplication · Microsoft

CVE-2008-4265

HIGH · 9.3 CVSS v2.0 Published 2008-12-10
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
Microsoft Office Excel 2000 SP3 allows remote attackers to execute arbitrary code via a crafted Excel spreadsheet that contains a malformed object, which triggers memory corruption during the loading of records from this spreadsheet, aka "File Format 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 confidence

A memory corruption vulnerability in Microsoft Office Excel 2000 SP3 allows remote attackers to execute arbitrary code via a specially crafted Excel spreadsheet containing malformed objects. When Excel loads records from the malicious file, the malformed object triggers memory corruption that can be leveraged for code execution.

MitigationApply Microsoft security update KB958372 or upgrade from the obsolete Office 2000 to a supported Microsoft Office version; deploy email/file filtering to block untrusted Excel attachments as an additional layer of defense.

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
Office ExcelApplication
Affected:= 2000= 2002= 2003
OfficeApplication
Affected:= 2004= 2008
Office Compatibility Pack For Word Excel Ppt 2007Application
Affected:all versions
Office Excel ViewerApplication
Affected:all versions= 2003
Open Xml File Format ConverterApplication
Affected:all versions

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. Check installed Excel version
    Open Microsoft Excel, click Help menu, select About Microsoft Excel. Note the version number displayed.
    Affected if Version is 2000, 2002, or 2003 (these are listed as affected Excel versions)
  2. Check installed Microsoft Office version
    Open any Office application, click Help menu, select About Microsoft Office. Note the version number displayed, or check Windows Registry under HKLM\Software\Microsoft\Office\Version for installed Office versions.
    Affected if Version is 2004 or 2008 (these Office versions are listed as affected)
  3. Check Excel Viewer installation
    Look for Microsoft Office Excel Viewer in installed programs via Control Panel > Programs and Features, or check for ExcelView.exe in Program Files.
    Affected if Excel Viewer is installed (all versions and specifically 2003 are listed as affected)
  4. Check Office Compatibility Pack installation
    Look for Microsoft Office Compatibility Pack For Word, Excel, PowerPoint 2007 File Formats in Control Panel > Programs and Features.
    Affected if Compatibility Pack is installed (all versions are listed as affected)
  5. Check Open XML File Format Converter installation
    Look for Microsoft Open XML File Format Converter in Control Panel > Programs and Features.
    Affected if Open XML File Format Converter is installed (all versions are listed as affected)
  6. Verify file opening capability
    Confirm that the Excel application or viewer can open .xls files. The vulnerability triggers when Excel parses malformed records from a specially crafted spreadsheet.
    Affected if Excel or the affected application is present and capable of opening spreadsheet files

You are affected if any of the following are installed: Excel 2000, Excel 2002, Excel 2003, Office 2004, Office 2008, Excel Viewer (any version), Office Compatibility Pack for Word/Excel/PowerPoint 2007, or Open XML File Format Converter.

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 Microsoft security update KB958372 or upgrade from the obsolete Office 2000 to a supported Microsoft Office version; deploy email/file filtering to block untrusted Excel attachments as an additional layer of defense.

Fix this in Office Excel Scoped from the published advisory
  • Consultation2.0 h
  • Implementation2.0 h
  • Testing2.0 h
  • Review / QA1.0 h
7.0 hours of engineering $1,240
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An estimate, not a bill — we confirm scope with you before any work starts. Need it this week? Rush from $1,984.

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-2008-4265 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